Sister Mine
by HTKWolfe777
Summary: Fifty-six years ago Professor Gerald Robotnik created the Ultimate Lifeform, Shadow the Hedgehog. His original purpose had been to help prvide a cure for Gerald's granddaughter Maria. Finding no cure this way Gerald was forced to rethink the Ultimate Lifeform with some interesting results... PLEASE REVIEW!
1. Chapter 1

_**Prologue**_

_**Long ago...**_

Gerald Robotnik pinches the bridge of his nose in frustration. He can't give up yet, he just can't. He would never forgive himself if he did, Maria is counting on him.

But what more can he do? The scientific community didn't blame him for using his funding to save his grandaughter, but they couldn't afford to give him any more. He's out of options.

"Grandpa?"

Gerald turns in his chair to see Maria standing there. She is barely six years old as she stares at her near-defeated grandfather. She has some genetic disease that hasn't ever been seen before, and so there is no clear way of treating her, let alone curing her. The world's best doctors had told him that she wasn't likely to see twenty years of age.

"Yes, what is it dear?"

"There's a weird man at the door, and he's got a badge."

Gerald furrows his eyebrows, the police? He hasn't broken any laws, though he supposes he might be at that point soon. He stands up, and follows Maria to the living-room where a red-haired man in a suit stands.

He smiles when Gerald walked in, "Ah, Dr. Robotnik, I presume?"

Gerald nods, "Yes, and you are?"

The red-haired man extends a hand, "I'm Michael Huff, it's a pleasure to meet you."

Gerald shakes Micheal's hand, and then gestures for him to have a seat. Michael sits on the couch, and Gerald takes a seat in his favorite armchair.

"My daughter told me that you showed her a badge?" Gerald raises an eyebrow curiously as Maria climbs into his lap.

"Ah, yes," Michael pulls a badge out of his pocket, and shows it to Gerald.

He inspects it closely, "GUN? I've heard of you, I think."

Michael nods, "I can't say that I'm surprised, what with being a scientist of your standing. We're a top-secret military unit working to keep the world at large a safe place. We also handle some of the greatest scientific developments of our time."

At this Michael leans forward, puts his elbows on his knees, and steeples his fingers. "Dr. Robotnik, I believe you've heard of a recent project that is being planned? It's called, "ARK."

_**Three Years Later...**_

"It is done, Doctor." Black Doom hovers behind Gerald, sounding pleased. Gerald is happy as well, in the life-capsule in front of him floats a marvel of modern science. The black hedgehog with red stripes in his quills looks so peaceful in his slumber.

"When will you be able to wake him?" Black Doom crosses his arms.

"I could do it now, but I want to make sure that he is in perfect condition first." Gerald picks up a hand-held scanner, and carefully runs the wide beam over the unconscious hedgehog. A computer in the corner of the room beeps at him. After staring at the screen, and pressing a few quick keys the screen lights up green.

"It is perfectly safe," Gerald announces, walking back over to Black Doom.

"Was that really necessary?" Black Doom narrows his three eyes at the doctor.

"If I hadn't he may have died the moment we opened the pod. Now we know that there is no chance of that." Gerald walks to the side of the life-capsule, hand hovering over a palm-scanner. He, and Black Doom nod to each other, and then Gerald presses his hand to the scanner. There is a loud mechanical whirring sound as the pod is set vertically. The fluid inside slowly drains out, and air pumps into it before the glass is opened.

The ebony hedgehog opens crimson colored eyes, and slowly takes in the scene around him. Gerald helps him to step out of the pod, "Welcome to life, little one."

The hedgehog glances between Black Doom, and Gerald, "Who are you?"

"I'm Dr. Gerald Robotnik, your creator, and this my associate, Black Doom."

Black Doom hovers towards them, and stares down at the smaller figure, "It is a pleasure to meet you at last... Shadow."

Shadow frowns slightly, and then grins, pleased with his name. Black Doom turns to Gerald, "I hope you will remember your promise, doctor."

"I cannot thank you enough, Black Doom."

With a nod, Black Doom fades away. Shadow raises a single eyebrow at the doctor, "Promise?"

"Nothing that you need to concern yourself with just yet, Shadow." Gerald walks to the laboratory door, "Now please follow me, there's someone I would like you to meet."

Shadow follows the doctor to the observation deck, where Maria stands looking out the massive window at the earth below. She turns when she hears their approaching footsteps, and smiles. Now nine years old she's about as tall as Shadow as she she steps up to hug her dad.

"Shadow," he says. "I would like you to meet my grandaughter, Maria."

_**Four Years Later...**_

Gerald pounds his fists onto the lab table, making everything on it clatter in protest.

"Impossible..." He had been so sure that it work! The Black Arms were immune to all manner of diseases, and Shadow had proved the same thus far. Gerald had subtly exposed Shadow to all manner of viruses, and bacteria. The result were not even a runny nose, Shadow can't get sick! Yet every cure he has made by using Shadow's DNA has proved useless to Maria's blood samples.

"Where did I go wrong?!" The horrified whisper escapes him as Gerald looks up at the pictures on his desk across the room. One was of him sitting in a chair with Maria standing behind him with a smile. The second was of Gerald, Maria, and Shadow on the observation deck. Shadow has his arms crossed, a small grin on his face. Maria stands behind Shadow, her hands on his shoulders. Gerald stands next to them, hands in his pockets.

"She's counting on me... I can't give up!"

And then it hits him, perhaps he had simply based his research off of the wrong subject. He, and Black Doom had tried so many different species other than humans, but found that only hedgehogs were capable of sustaining the power of the Black Arms. Even then, Shadow still needs to wear inhibitor rings to stop the power from destroying himself. Gerald had been sure that a hybrid that was half human would have proven to have better results, but Black Doom had refused to do that.

Gerald rubs his chin in thought, so if he can't change the species... then what about the gender? It could be possible that Shadow's Y chromosome could be interfering with a cure intended for a _girl._ It could be worth looking into, but it won't be as easy as simply removing Shadow's Y chromosome from the samples he has on hand. No, he'll need samples from a body like Shadow's that has naturally omitted the Y chromosome.

Last time he had needed Black Doom's DNA to create the Ultimate Life-Form, but with the Black Comet still decades away from returning Gerald will have to make do.

For the next few months he works in secret to clone Shadow, but this time he would create a female hedgehog. At times he can tell that some of the other scientists on the ARK were growing curious about his work, and so he creates the BioLizard to throw them off his trail. When the time comes to renew his contract with GUN, he sets to work building the Eclipse Cannon, claiming it to be weapon for the defense of earth. He had also done this with the intention of destroying the Black Comet, when Black Doom returned to claim the Chaos Emeralds. He won't allow all life on earth to pay for his selfishness.

And so another year passes, Maria is fourteen years old now, and growing up nicely. Shadow has been her constant companion, and has made life onboard the ARK bearable for the both of them. Gerald is growing short on time to find a cure, but he takes some comfort in knowing that Maria is happy.

One day Maria, and Gerald are enjoying lunch in the Ark's garden. It resembles more of a small field on the edge of a small forest, but this is one of their favorite places on the ARK. Suddenly Shadow skates through the gates, and up to them, talking fast.

"Doctor, we've got trouble! GUN is here, and they're arresting everybody on the ARK!"

"What?!" Gerald quickly get to his feet with a little help from Maria. "Why?!"

"Someone found out about Black Doom, and they said that you were conspiring with him. I don't know how, but we've got to move, now!"

As they run, Maria looks at her father with fear in her eyes, "Black Doom?! Grandpa, what's going on?"

With labored breathing, Gerald explains as much as he can. He tells Maria about his deal with Black Doom; that in exchange for helping to create Shadow, Gerald would collect all seven Chaos Emeralds for Black Doom. Maria is so scared that she didn't have time to feel betrayed, and so they just keep running. Gerald is old, and well out of shape at that. Before too long he's beginning to fall behind.

"Shadow," the black, and red hedgehog turns his head to look at his creator. "Take Maria, and get to the escape pods as fast as you can. I'm just slowing you down, so hurry! I'll see you two again, I promise!"

After a minute Shadow nods, taking Maria by the hand, and pulling her on ahead. Maria casts a final mournful look at her father, and then disappears around a corner.

"Good," he says to himself. "At least she's being well cared for. Now I have to go look after the rest of our family." Gerald turns, and runs back to his laboratory, where the clone is being kept. He dashes inside, gasping for breath. He slaps a hand on a control panel, sealing the door closed.

"Ai," he calls out. "Move subject to the crash-vault, and seal it there."

"Yes, doctor." The robotic reply comes from unseen speakers as Gerald jogs over to a computer terminal. He opens the files on Project: "Shadow", and moves all information regarding the clone into a hidden terminal, the same terminal where Ai's memory is kept.

"Ai, I want you to listen to me very closely. The care-taking of the subject is your primary function from now on. I don't know what will happen after today, but keep her safe. I don't doubt that in nearly fifty years from now Black Doom will return for the Chaos Emeralds, and I'm hoping that we will be able to stop him. Keep the subject in stasis-sleep until either I return for her, or the Black Arms are dead. Am I understood, Ai?"

"Yes, doctor. Primary function reprogrammed, "Protect the Subject." Doctor, GUN agent are at the door, and attempting to break in. Orders?"

Gerald sighs, "Stand down, Ai, you can't let them know about you, or the subject until she is awakened. She is all that matters to you, understand?"

"Understood, Doctor." And with that, the door is blasted open. GUN agent grab Gerald, and cuff him. Pointing guns at his back, they escort him to their ship, and wait. Minutes later they depart, and head back to earth.

Days pass on Prison Island without indecent. One day, while Gerald is typing in his diary, the door to his cell opens, and Michael Huff comes in. Gerald raises his eyebrows when he sees how downcast Micheal's face looks.

"Hello again, Dr. Robotnik," Michael takes a chair, and sits in it with the back in front of him. "You know, when I asked you to join us, this isn't what I had in mind."

Gerald furrows his eyebrows, "What's going on, Mr. Huff? You look like you've seen a ghost."

Michael manages a weak smile, "I'm about at that point, yeah." he closed his eyes, and takes a deep breath, "Gerald, I'm afraid I have some bad news..."

Gerald freezes with fear, "...no..."

"It's about your grandaughter, she's-"

"No... It can't be!" Gerald starts shaking his head.

"... She's dead."

"NO!" Gerald shoots up out of his chair, and grabs Michael by his shoulders. "You're lying, you have to be!"

Micheal puts his hands on the doctor's, and pulls them off gently. "She was seen helping a being suspected of being your "Ultimate Life-Form" escape. She refused to stand down, and one of the agents shot her. The black, and red hedgehog was sent back to earth in an escape pod, but fell unconscious on impact. GUN found him, and kept him sedated long enough to put him in Cryostasis sleep. With what our sources tell us, it's the only thing that will keep him down without killing him."

Gerald can't hear him anymore, he can only see his darling Maria lying on the metal floor of the ARK, surrounded by a pool of her own blood. He can't even move for the longest time. Michael calls in a doctor who diagnoses Gerald with extreme shock.

With there being nothing they can do for him, they leave. Over the next few days Gerald mutely works on various projects with no clear purpose. The walls of his cell are covered with calculations, and he speaks to no one, choosing instead to write in his diary. A few days after that he is found collapsed in a heap in his cell. They take him to a hospital on the mainland, and the news is not good.

They claim the Gerald has simply lost the will to live. That, combined with his refusal to eat, means that in a few hours time Doctor Gerald Robotnik has died.

_**Chapter One**_

All is quiet on the ARK, all systems are running in standby mode. GUN has replaced the guard drones that had been in place before Eggman had destroyed them all. No signs of life can be seen anywhere.

Ai sees all this through his hidden connection to the ARK's security footage. He has deduced that the time has come, the will of Dr. Gerald Robotnik must be fulfilled.

"Retrieving Subject," The floor in the old laboratory opens in a circular hole, and the door to the laboratory seals shut. A life-capsule rises from the safety of the crash-vault, and comes to rest vertically in the middle of the laboratory.

"Beginning diagnostics scan," a ring of blue energy appears around the life-capsule, and slowly goes down, illuminating the subject within. When the ring vanishes, Ai says, "Scan complete, Abnormalities: Negative. Beginning Animation process."

The blueish fluid in the glass capsule begins to drain out through the bottom, resting the subject on her feet. Air pumps slowly into the capsule before it opens with a hissing sound.

"Mmm," the subject opens her crimson eyes, and blinks at her surroundings. Slowly she steps out of the life-capsule's base, and turns in a circle to look around the laboratory. Her eyes fall on a mirror secured to a wall. She walks over to it, and inspects her reflection closely. She's dressed in a black, sleeveless top, and black pants. Her quills, and fur are the same color as her irises, deep crimson. She turns her head to see that her quills stretch down her back to her hips. Taking one in her hand, she trails a finger along one of the black stripes in her red quills. Light glints off of one of her bracelets, and she traces it with a finger.

"I would advise you not to remove those, if you please."

The sudden voice makes her jump, and whip her head around, looking for the speaker. "Who's there?!"

"Forgive me," the robotic voice comes again, and a screen on a computer terminal lights up. "My name is Ai, I was designed by Dr. Gerald Robotnik to care for his laboratory, and act as his assistant. Before he left he reprogrammed me to be your care-taker. Welcome to life."

She walks over to the computer terminal, and cocks her head at it curiously, "What do you mean, "Welcome to life?" Was I dead?"

"Negative, quite the opposite. Today is the day you are born, the date is January sixth, year two-thousand and thirteen, in case you were wondering."

"Born?" She can't understand exactly what Ai is trying to tell her.

"Allow me to explain," Ai pauses as he bring up a holographic image of the ARK in the middle of the room. She stares at it in wonder.

"Your are on the Space Colony ARK, a station designed by the GUN over half a century ago. It was once home to some of the greatest scientific minds on earth."

"Earth?" she watches as the hologram of the ARK changes into a hologram of Earth with the ARK orbiting around it.

"They were brought here so that they could work in seclusion, and secrecy. One of these scientists was Dr. Gerald Robotnik." The hologram changes into the doctor, standing straight with his hands in his pockets. "He was one of the main contributors to the ARK, but was eventually persecuted for some of his creations. These creations included Shadow the Hedgehog," the hologram becomes Shadow, arms crossed, and a cold look in his eye. "Shadow was created under the pretense of being the Ultimate Life-Form, but while this is undoubtedly true, Dr. Robotnik had an ulterior motive."

The hologram takes the form of Maria, "Dr. Robotnik's grandaughter, Maria, was deathly ill, and Dr. Robotnik had hoped to find a cure by using Shadow. However when the GUN arrested the scientists on the ARK for supposedly being in league with DR. Robotnik, Maria was killed, and the doctor was taken into custody with Shadow. This all took place here approximately fifty-six years ago."

She is understanding a little better now, but she still has questions, "But why would they do that, just because of Shadow?"

"I believe it was more a question of Shadow's lineage. In order to create Shadow, Gerald Robotnik had made a deal with a race of aliens named the Black Arms." The hologram becomes Black Doom, "Their leader, Black Doom, agreed to give Dr. Robotnik a sample of his own DNA in exchange for the seven Chaos Emeralds." Black doom vanishes, and seven holographic Chaos emeralds appear in a rotating circle. She watches in amazement at the beautiful colors, Crimson, Emerald, Gold, Silver, Violet, Saphire, and Azure.

"Seven gems of unknown origin, and unlimited power. Sadly, Black Doom's intent for them was not kind. He had intended to use them in order to teleport the Black Comet down to earth's surface, and invade."

"How awful," she puts her hands over her mouth.

"They're attempted invasion took place approximately six years ago, fortunately Shadow stopped them. He used the Chaos Emeralds to put the Comet back into space, and destroyed it using the Eclipse Cannon. It is another of Dr. Robotnik's creations, just like you, and I."

The Hologram changes again to show the Black comet heading towards the ARK. Suddenly a green beam lances from the ARK, and collides with the comet. After a few seconds the comet bursts into various fragment, and scatter out across the galaxy. She flinches as a piece drifts harmlessly though her shoulder.

"Wait, what about me?" She looks at the terminal again.

"When Dr. Robotnik failed to produce a cure for Maria with Shadow's blood, he developed a hypothesis that Shadow's Y chromosome was interfering with the cure's effectiveness. He required a subject that had been born without the Y chromosome, but was biologically the same as Shadow. Therefore he used the DNA of Shadow that he had on hand to clone him, creating you. Sadly, the GUN initiated their raid of the ARK before you could be safely awakened. He had me move you to the crash-vault, and wait for the appropriate time to awaken you."

She doesn't understand all of what Ai just said, but she thinks that she understands one important bit of information.

"So I'm... Just a clone?"

A minute of silence, and then Ai says, "I do not believe that you are merely "just a clone." If the Doctor had just wanted a clone, he would not have tampered with the genetic material to make that clone female. Though the Doctor wanted to use Shadow to heal Maria, he still saw Shadow as a person. If he were here with us now, he would do the same for you. I apologize if I caused you discomfort, I only told you of your origins because firstly, I am your care-taker, and secondly, no one else would be able to. He ordered me to keep you a secret for as long as possible."

She mulls that over in her mind, Ai is right. He's making perfect sense, so she shouldn't worry about her past. She still has two questions though.

"Ai, what is my name?"

A beat of silence, "It appears the Doctor wished to name you when you were standing awake in front of him, therefore I have no name of yours in my files. Would you like for me to compose a list of feminine names so that you may choose one for yourself?"

She thinks about it for a moment, and then nods, "Yes, please."

"A moment, please..."

The terminal whirrs, and after a few seconds a sheet of paper two feet long slides out of the terminal. Picks it up, and frowns, a new question has just come to mind.

"Ai, how come I can read, and talk? Not that I'm complaining, but isn't that usually something people have to learn?"

"Typically yes, however the Doctor's studies show that the Black Arms are capable of passing on skills through their genetics."

"Thanks," she says, and begins scanning the list. She stays that way for a few minutes, and then she says, "Ai, what's this one say?"

"I am unable to focus the cameras in this room well enough to read, miss, you will have to spell it."

"L-U-N-A."

"That name is pronounced "Luna", and it happens to be the name of the earth's moon."

She thinks about it, and then she smiles, "Okay, my name is Luna. But I have one more question."

"Yes, Luna?"

"What do I do now?"

_**Hey Y'all! I'm back after a short wait. Please note that this story in no way ties to my first book, Operation: "Rewind". I'm still waiting on the reveiws I need to write the book, and looking back I realized that I never made a deadline for those reveiws. Somthing tells me that if I don't, then I'll never get those reveiws, so please forgive me if I'm being pushy. Anyhow, I'm going to wait until March to write the sequel to Operation Rewind, and until then I'm working on this book as a Lark. For those who don't know what that means, it's when an author is bored, and decides to just put out a story for the hell of it. I'm not expecting Sister Mine to be all that grand, but Reviews would be nice, if it's not a bother.**_

_** Thanks for the attention, and thank you TechnoSam, and Chocoholic Princess for your thoughtful reveiws on Rewind.**_


	2. Chapter 2

_**Chapter Two**_

Luna's POV

The question hangs in the air for about half a second.

"I propose we leave the ARK," Ai's voice is now coming from the terminal instead of unseen speakers. "I judged this was the appropriate time to awaken you because otherwise you may have remained in stasis-sleep indefinitely. The Black Arms are destroyed, and Dr. Robotnik is deceased to the best of my knowledge. I have spent the past year planning a way for us to leave undetected, and we must act quickly to put it into effect."

A compartment on the terminal opens up, and a watch it thrust out of it. I put it on, and Ai's voice comes from the watch.

"I have transferred all of myself into this portable storage device. I have a few functions that I will need to use to get us safely to the escape pods. As for you, to the best of my knowledge you have all of Shadow's abilities, but most of them will require the use of a Chaos Emerald. Currently all seven emeralds are somewhere on the planet's surface, so we will have to make due with your inherent abilities.

"You have been equipped with the same gear as Shadow; a pair of Hover-Shoes, and two pairs of Inhibitor-Rings. You will notice that the rings are located on your wrists, and ankles. Under no circumstances should you remove all four. Removing the rings from your wrists will allow you to unleash a greater portion of your power than normal, but if you were to remove all four you would destroy yourself in a sub-atomic explosion."

"Which is bad," I say dryly.

"Indeed, so bear this in mind at all times. Your shoes will not enable flight, but you will be able to skate at speeds that can break the sound barrier. There will not be much room to maneuver in the hallways of the ARK, so be careful. Without a Chaos Emerald you have access to only one ability, Chaos Control. Without an emerald it will enable short-range teleportation, about thirty meters or so."

"And that's without an emerald?" _Wow,_ I think to myself, _I wonder what I can do with a Chaos Emerald._

"Indeed, now we must go, our window of opportunity just opened." With that, Ai opens the laboratory door. I dash to it, and cautiously poke my head out. Ai guides me through the hallways, warning me when to hide, and when to teleport. He tells me that we must not draw attention to ourselves by destroying any of the GUN robots.

As I round the last corner I come face-to-face with a tall humanoid robot. It levels its gun at me, and I cringe. Suddenly the core of my watch flies into the air, leaving only the strap behind. Quicker than I can blink, Ai latches himself to the bottom of the robot's "chin", and the machine jerks. The light in its photoreceptor fades, and Ai returns to my wrist. As we continue to move Ai explains what happened.

"It was unavoidable that we were to run into that guard, so erased us from its memory, and set it to temporarily shut down. Even if GUN returns to inspect the ship, nothing will be discovered."

"Glad to hear it, I'm assuming that you're doing something about the cameras too?"

"I spent the last year creating a Camera Footage Loop with what I could piece together. Not even the most observant computer programmer will be able to tell it's a fake."

"And what about the camera that was watching us when you shut down the robot?"

"That camera shorted itself out three hours ago. Eventually they will send someone to repair it, but for now it is simply a malfunction."

"I'm just gonna guess that the escape pod will be explained away with a glitch in the system, or something?

"Exactly, the pods are straight ahead, at the edge of your teleportation abilities."

I warp into the control room for the escape pods. Ai guides me to one of the pods, and initiates a timed countdown. The pod closes around me, and thirty seconds later I'm thrust into outer space.

"And we are clear," Ai's voice comes from my wrist. "I disabled the loop at the moment of departure, so the cameras are displaying normally again. I am setting a course for the pacific ocean, it will be a bumpy landing, so brace yourself."

I watch with wide eyes as we enter earth's atmosphere. I cast one last glance at the ARK, and then squeezes my eyes shut. Ai creates an energy field to help slow the decent as much as possible, but it will still be a hard landing. I crack one eye open enough to see the ocean rushing up to meet me, and I hurriedly closes it again.

My eyes flutter open when I feel a sharp pain in my shoulder. As quickly as it's there it vanishes. I feel it again, and sit up. I rub my head, and see a young boy in swimming trunks standing next to me, holding a stick.

"... You weren't poking me with that thing, were you?" I don't sound angry, but the kid chucks the stick into the sea water behind me, shaking his head. I take a moment to take in my surroundings; I'm on a beach, and just a few meters in front of me is a tall building. The boy takes off running as I stand, brushing wet sand from my soaked clothes.

"Well that's just perfect," I mutter to myself.

"I wish there was something I could do to help, Luna."

I jump slightly, I'd forgotten about Ai. "Don't worry, I'll figure something ou-ou-ACHOO!" I rub my nose, and shiver. I may be on the beach, but it's still early January. I see a gate open leading to a pool, drained of course. I makes my way up the stairs, and through the automatic glass doors on the other side of the pool. I see the same little boy from earlier getting scolded by his mother. Apparently this is the sixth time she's told him that it's too clod to go swimming. I look around, the place looks like a hotel.

I walks up to the front desk where a reception lady looks up at me.

"E-excuse me, mam, but I fell into the surf outside, can You please help me?" I rub some feeling back into her arms, numb from the cold, and wet.

The reception lady raises her eyebrows, and looks around. She comes around from behind her desk, leaving an "Out to Lunch" sign for visitors. She guides me into a back room, and passes me a white robe.

"Here," the lady says. "It's against company policy to help people who aren't guests, but you look on the verge of hypothermia, poor thing. I'll wash your clothes, and have you back on your feet in about an hour."

"Thank you so mu-mu-ACHOO!"

The lady smiles, "You're quite welcome, Ms..."

"I'm Luna."

The receptionist nods, "Nice to meet you, Luna, my name's Emilia."

Emilia leaves, and I change into the robe.

"That was quite fortunate," Ai notes.

"Uh-huh, so Ai, did you have any plans for _after _escaping the ARK?"

"I will obey my primary programming, which is to act as your care-taker. Other than that, the choice is yours."

I think for a moment, "Well, from what you've said Maria, and the Doctor are long dead. What about Shadow?"

"The odds are quite high that he is still alive, Luna. About six years ago he came out of cryostasis, and returned to the ARK with Dr. Gerald Robotnik's grandson, Dr. Ivo Robotnik. Later when the ARK was falling out of orbit he used the seven Chaos Emeralds to put it back, but in the process fell into the earth's atmosphere. He survived to return to the ARK several weeks later when the Black Arms invaded, and _he _didn't have an escape pod."

I raise my eyebrows as I set my clothes on a table, and wrap the robe around myself. "Wow, cool." I cock my head to the side, "Hey Ai, would it be fair to call Shadow my brother?"

Ai takes a minute to process this, "You both hail from the same creator, birthplace, and genetic material. If it comforts you to see him that way, then I see no reason why not."

I roll her eyes, smiling, "Wow, Ai, you have such a way with words."

Unsure of how to respond, Ai remains silent. Emilia returns a few minute later with a tray of two steaming cups of tea, and a plate of sandwiches. She sets the tray down next to my clothes, "I might as well take my lunch break now. Would you care to join me?"

"Yes, please," as I reach for a sandwich, Ai beeps twice on my wrist.

"Happy Sixteenth Birthday, Luna"

Emilia stares at Ai, mistaking him for a normal watch, and then looks back at me, "Well, Happy Birthday from me too, Luna. Sorry that I don't have a present." Emilia smiles at me.

"Oh no," I wave her off. "You've done so much for me already, I can't thank you enough!"

Emilia looks thoughtful for a moment, "Actually, I think I know one way you can..."

I looks at my new friend, puzzled. Emilia picks up my clothes, "I'll tell you more once you get back on your feet, okay?" I nod, and Emilia walks off.

I look at Ai, "What did you do that for?"

"My duties as your care-taker may not be simply restricted to your safety, Luna."

I give Ai a thoughtful frown, but then shrug, and go back to my lunch. Emilia shows of about forty-five minutes later, my crisply ironed clothes in her hands. She leaves with the tray as I get dressed, and walk out to find Emilia.

"Feel better?" Emilia grins, and I nod.

"Very much, thank you. You said there was something I could do for you?"

Emilia gestures for me to follow her, and opens one of the elevators. We both step inside, and Emilia picks a floor. A few seconds later the doors open, and I gasp. It's a garden with tropical trees growing on the inside, and a shallow pool covering a third of the room. What really catches my eye are the little blue creatures crawling, and flying around.

"What are these," I think out loud.

Emilia smiles, "They're called "Chao", and this our nursery for them."

"They're so adorable!" I go to pet the one closest to me, but it takes one look at me before scuttling away. She pout, and look around the garden. I stop when my eyes fall on one of the Chao. He's sitting under a tree, face pointed at the ground. Unlike the others this Chao is black instead of blue, also unlike the others, he's all alone.

I walk over to him, and sit on my knees. The little black Chao looks up at me, and cocks his head, "Chao?"

I smile at the little guy, and stretch out my arms. I pick him up, holding his close like a baby.

"I see you've found Trouble," Emilia smiles down at the two of us. I look up at her in confusion.

"That's his name" she explains. "Or at least that's what we call him. The garden works like a foster home for Chao, Luna. Trouble here was left in our care by a breeder who didn't want to breed black Chao. But it turns out that the black Chao aren't a very popular breed, so he's been here for maybe two years now."

I look at Trouble in shock. The little creature just snuggles closer to me in my arms, "Chaaaooo..."

I can feel tears welling in my eyes, "Then can I take him with me?"

"Of course, you see that's actually what I was going to ask you for. I wasn't going to force you though, I just thought I could kill two birds with one stone this way. You get a birthday present, and Trouble gets a home."

I stand, pulling Emilia into a one-armed hug, "Thank you, Emilia."

Five minutes later I'm on the streets of Station Square. I learned the name of the city from a newsstand shouting out stories for the local newspaper. Trouble is laying down on top of my head, singing to himself.

"I bet you're happy to be seeing the real world, huh Trouble?"

"Chao!" comes the reply, followed by some gleeful giggling.

"Do you have a destination in mind, Luna?" I look at Ai like I'm checking the time.

"Well, I was thinking I might try to find Shadow, I mean he is my only family right now. Who knows how long he's been on his own."

"Including his time in cryostasis, approximately fifty-six years."

"Thank you, Ai," I say, rolling my eyes. "But do you have any idea where he might be?"

"In front of you might be a good chance."

I look up, and see another hedgehog walking a few meters ahead of me. I skate forward, Trouble holding onto my quills.

"I found you!" I yell with delight, grabbing his wrist.

"Yipe! Amy I-!"

We blink at each other, clearly neither is who the other had expected. WE both sigh, Me in frustration, and him in relief.

"Sorry about that," I say while letting him go. "I thought you were someone else."

"Yeah, same here," the hedgehog chuckles. His fur, and quills are cobalt-blue, and he's wearing red shoes. His quills are swept back, and his eyes are emerald green.

He gives me a grin, "I'm Sonic, and you?"

"Oh, I'm Luna, nice to meet you, Sonic. Sorry again for the mix-up."

"No problem, Luna, I'm just glad it wasn't really-"

"SONIC!"

"Whoa jeez!" Almost out of nowhere a bright pink hedgehog tackles Sonic, and traps his him in a Death-Hug.

"Oh, Sonic, I'm so glad I found you!"

"Speak of the devil..." Sonic mutters.

"Huh, what did you say?"

"Ames, you're hurting me!"

"Oops!" Amy lets go of Sonic, and helps him gt back to his feet. I can't help it, I laugh. I'm bent over double, and I can't even stop to breath. Sonic, and Amy watch me regain myself after a minute, wiping a tear from my eye.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," I say, gasping for breath. "But I just never expected to see that." I stands up straight, Trouble climbing back onto my head. I offer Amy my hand to shake, "I'm Luna, nice to meet you."

Amy crosses her arms, "Oh don't act like that, I saw you from across the street! Let me get one thing straight okay, Sonic is _mine,_ okay?"

I'm slightly taken aback, "I'm not sure what you mean-"

"What I mean is you can't have him, capiche?"

I feel something unfamiliar stir inside me. "I assure you I wasn't-"

"Don't lie to me, I saw you two holding hands!"

I realize what I'm feeling now, anger. My eyebrows lower, and I give Amy a Death-Glare.

"Alright, that's enough, _princess. _Let me make one thing perfectly clear, I'm not after anyone, capiche? I thought he was my brother, and so I ran to catch up with him, but it turned out to be a mistake. Then you come out of nowhere, and treat me like this? You don't even know me!"

Amy is staring at me, eyes wide. She opens her mouth slowly to say something, but Sonic cuts her off.

"Shadow!"

My eyebrows raise, and I look around, "Where?!"

Sonic is laughing now, "So what happened man, Eggman turn you into a girl?"

I realizes that Sonic's talking to me, "Um, I'm sorry, but I'm not-"

"Yeah, right!" Sonic laughs again, "I'd know that Death-Glare anywhere, Shadow old buddy!"

My eyes widen, "You know where he is?"

"Yeah," Sonic nods. "He's right in front of me."

I roll my eyes, "No, Sonic, I'm not Shadow. I am looking for him though, can you help me?"

Amy replies for him, "Of course we will! I'm sorry about that little-"

"It's forgotten," I interrupt. "But where can I find him?"

Amy scratches her head, "Well he's in town for a few days, so Rouge let him stay at her pad. I can take you there if you want."

I surprise Amy by pulling her into a fierce hug, "THANK YOU!"

"ku... bree..."

"Huh?"

"I can't breath!" Amy gasps, and I let her go. Sonic grins at the irony. After Amy catches her breath she pulls out a cell phone, and dials a number.

"Hello, Rouge? It's Amy, would now be a good time to come over?... Well, we met a girl who's looking for Shadow... Luna, why?... oh, okay! We'll meet you there!... 'kay, bye!"

Amy puts away her phone, "Rouge says that she'll meet us at Twinkle Park in about thirty minutes."

"Where is that?" I glance between the two of them.

"Just down the street, wanna race?" Sonic grins.

I turn, and skate off. Sonic takes a moment to be surprised, and then he's right next to Me.

"Hah, now I know you're Shadow, only he can get anywhere close to my speed."

"I don't care about the race, I just want to get there!"

"Well that's no fun..." Sonic suddenly stops, and I shoot right past him. I hit the brakes, and skate back to him.

"What's wrong?"

He shrugs, "We're here."

I look up at the elevator to the amusement park. So this is it.

A sudden flash of light draws my attention to the other side of the elevator. Through the glass I can see two figures. The first is white, dressed in a black and pink body suit. The wings suggest that it's a bat.

The other is black with red stripes in his quills. He wears shoes just like mine, and I can see the rings on his wrists, and ankles.

I warp to the other side of the elevator, and wrap Shadow in a hug from behind.

"Shadow, oh I'm-!"

Suddenly Shadow jabs an elbow into my gut, startling me into letting him go. Faster than I would have believed possible, he spins delivering a round-house kick to my chest. I go flying, and land in a pool of water leading to the sewers. Fortunately the water had already been treated, so it's clean.

Shadow pulls a gun from his hip, and points it at my head. "Who are you?"


	3. Chapter 3

_**Chapter Three**_

Luna stares at her brother in shock as she struggles to catch her breath. The cold fury in his gaze freezes her heart, and the hand he uses to hold the gun doesn't shake in the slightest.

Sonic has come around the elevator, and he's looking from Shadow to Luna in astonishment. He truly _had _believed that Luna had been Shadow.

"I'll say it again," Shadow rumbles in a deep voice as he clicks back the hammer of his gun. "_Who... are... you?"_

Tears appear in her eyes, "I... I..." She can't even get the words out. She squeezes her eyes shut, and grits her teeth. She warps out of the water, and reappears several yards to Shadow's right. He spins into a kneeling position, both hands on the gun trained on her. Luna ignores him, instead holding out her arms for Trouble to float into. She glares at Shadow with tear-filled eyes, and then skates off, using Chaos Control to vanish.

"Why...?"

Luna sits on top of a building, knees drawn to her chest. Night has fallen, and the cold wind bites at her bare arms. She can't feel it, such is her sorrow.

"Chao," Trouble says sadly as he floats next to her face, and tries to wipe away tears that won't stop flowing.

"I fear I am to blame for this," comes Ai's voice from her wrist. "If I had spoken sooner this may not have happened like it did."

Luna shakes her head, "No, it's not your fault Ai. I should have known that he wouldn't want a sister."

"With all due respect, Luna, I do not have a record of you mentioning to anyone your relationship to Shadow."

Luna sighs, "I know, that's because I wanted him to be the first to know. Where did it go wrong?"

"Perhaps it was the hug," Ai says, trying to answer her as best he can. "Shadow has been a GUN agent for some time, and so when someone he has never heard of before says they want to meet him it is only natural he would assume it was an ambush. In other words, you simply startled him."

Luna sighs again, Ai is making perfect sense as usual. "What should I do now, Ai?

"That depends, are you wishing to try again with Shadow?"

Luna is quiet for a minute, "... I don't know anymore."

"Then I am at a loss for advise, Luna. All that we can do now is wait for you to decide on what you want."

"Chao." Trouble hugs Luna's face, and she pulls him closer.

A thought crosses her mind, "Ai, you said that Gerald Robotnik has a grandson?"

"Indeed, His name is Doctor Ivo Robotnik."

"Then... if Shadow, and I have the same father, Ivo's grandpa, then that means we're related too, right?"

"It's logically sound to assume so, yes. I take it that you wish to find him?"

She's quiet for a minute, thinking. Does she, what if it ends up worse that Shadow?

"I feel like I have to try, Ai. If I don't then I don't know what to do."

"In that case, then I will mediate this meeting. As we speak, I am broadcasting a Distress Signal to the Robotnik computer mainframe."

"How appropriate," she muses out loud.

"I am receiving a response, they are on their way to pick us up."

Luna stands up, rubbing as much of the red out of her eyes as she can. Fifteen minutes pass, and still nothing.

"Well well well, this isn't what I was expecting at all!"

Luna whirls to face the speaker, and sees a fat man in a red coat hovering in some kind of personal hovercraft.

He stares down his pointy nose at her, "I don't recognize you at all, little girl, but if you're a hedgehog then you're probably with the rest of those pests. What really interests me, however, is how you managed to get your hands on my distress beacon."

"Hello Ivo," Luna laces her finger behind her back, a shy grin on her face. At least he wasn't about to shoot her like a certain _someone. _"I'm glad you came, I was starting to get worried."

"Hm?" Eggman frowns at her, "Now I wonder why that would be?"

Luna rubs her arms, "If you don't mind, can we talk someplace a bit warmer, please?"

Eggman rubs his chin in thought, if this is a trick, it's a very good one. For some reason, he actually wants to believe it. He decides to go with his gut on this one.

"Very well, just hold on..." he messes with the controls in front of him, and a robotic hand unfolds from behind his transporter. Before she can blink, the hand shoots out, and grabs her.

"Whoa!" she exclaims, as she's lifted into the air. She pulls Trouble from the air, and holds him close as they are carried off.

About an hour later they are inside Eggman's pyramid base. He's outside of his personal carrier, and Luna's feet are firmly on the ground again.

"I'm sorry for the unorthodox travel, miss, but I _had _gone out expecting to bring back a robot."

"It's fine, and my name's Luna, by the way."

"A pleasure..." Luna follows Eggman into the heart of his base. They approach a table set with dinner, and Eggman orders a robot to bring a second helping for Luna to eat. They sit at the table, and Eggman leans forward, elbows on the table.

"Now then, I would like some answers, if you don't mind terribly much."

"Of course not," Luna says, and her stomach growls as soon as the food is put in front of her. "Um, Ai, would you mind explaining please?"

"Certainly, Luna." Ai leaves the strap on her wrist, and hovers over to the large display screen. "Dr. Ivo Robotnik, I believe you are familiar with Project: "Shadow"..."

As Ai explains, Luna eats. She shares her meal with Trouble, who delights at the thought of being hand-fed. When the meal, and the explanation are finished, Ivo leans back in his chair.

"Now let me check to make sure that I understand this correctly," he rubs his chin as he speaks. "Luna, you are a female clone of Shadow created by my grandfather in hopes of a better chance for curing Maria, and the only reason I don't know about you, despite the fact that I have my grandfather's diary, was that my grandfather took any mention of you out of it?"

Luna nods as Ai returns to her wrist, "That about sums it up."

"Hm..." Eggman mulls it over, and then waves a hand dismissively. "Well, you had my distress beacon, so that's enough proof for me. I haven't had much time to upgrade my programs, so I used some of my grandfather's codes. Still, I want to know something. If you're Shadow's clone, then that means that you're just like him?"

"I'm not _just_ like him," Luna says sourly.

Eggman looks at her in confusion, and she explains her run-in with Shadow earlier.

"Well I honestly can't say that Shadow wouldn't behave like that. He's always skeptical of strangers at best, and downright murderous at worst. So you sought me out because..."

"Because we're family, aren't we?" She stares at Eggman with questioning eyes.

Eggman sighs, "Technically, yes we are, and with Shadow turning you away I'm not surprised you would come looking for me. I'll tell you this now though, it won't make you very popular if you stick around." And with that he begins his dinner.

Luna is confused, "Why, don't they like you?"

Eggman coughs, and Luna realizes that he's laughing.

"Like me?! Please, I'm they're mortal enemy! Frankly, I hate them too. I try to make the world a better place, just like my grandfather, but at every turn those Mobians are always stopping my plans before they can come to fruitation!"

"Your records show that your plans have all been with the goal of conquest in mind. I fail to see how the differentiates you from the Black Arms."

Luna looks at Ai, and then looks at Eggman in agreement.

He wags a finger at the two of them, "The difference is that in all my schemes, no one has ever gotten hurt. People always overlook that though because always easier to just paint me as the bad guy, and call it a day."

"Footage from the ARK shows that you once launched Sonic from the ARK in an exploding escape pod," Luna thinks that she can hear a hint of dryness in Ai's voice.

Eggman laughs, "Like that would kill him, HA! He's fallen from space before, he would have survived. At the most it would have bought me the time I needed back then."

He leans forward, fingers interlaced, "I'm telling you now, Luna, When Shadow wants something done, it happens. The last time I was on the ARK, he tricked me into helping him almost destroy the entire planet!"

Luna Looks at Ai, and when he says nothing she assumes that it's true.

An Egg-Pawn waddles up to Eggman, and makes a series of beeping noises. With a confused look, Eggman turns on the large Observation Screen to the news.

A anchor woman is sitting behind a desk, a news bulletin in her hands.

"This just in, Dr. Eggman has been sighted, yet again, in Station Square. Eyewitnesses report him abducting a young, female hedgehog that has yet to be identified."

An amateur video of Eggman picking up Luna is played, and Eggman rubs his chin in thought. He switches off the news, and turns to Luna.

"This may work in both our favors, Luna. No doubt once Sonic sees that report he'll come looking for me. And if I know Shadow like I think I do, then he'll be looking for the both of us pretty soon."

"So what are you saying, Ivo?" Luna hugs Trouble close, and walks up to Eggman.

"Well we both know that you came willingly, but they probably won't believe that at first..." A grin comes over his features, "When they get here we can explain it all, and hopefully they won't destroy all my robots this time. But while this takes care of my problems, I believe that we have a few of yours to deal with."

Luna cocks her head to the side, looking at him curiously.

"Shadow," he continues. "If you're anything like him, then I can guess that you want his respect, correct?"

Luna blinks, he'd hit that nail on the head pretty hard, and she hadn't even known it was there.

"Well... yeah, I guess..."

"Then I'll help you, consider it a practical joke on my part. Shadow is a warrior, Luna, and the only way you'll get his respect is to show him that you're on his level." He clasps his hands together, smiling at her.

"I'll help you train with the time we have, and I'll even arm you." He snaps his fingers, and an Egg-Pawn waddles forward with a box in its hands. Eggman takes the box, and opens it in front of Luna.

She gasps, inside is the red Chaos Emerald. Eggman takes the emerald from the box, and hands it to her. Trouble hovers a few inches from the jewel, wondering if it's a new toy.

"It's beautiful..." she breathes. The hologram that Ai had shown her failed to completely capture the luster of the Chaos Emeralds, or the power she can feel humming through her now that it's in her hands.

She jumps up, wrapping her arms around Robotnik's neck, "That you so much, Ivo!"

Eggman is taken aback, this is not what he had been expecting at all. Awkwardly he pats her back, and sets her back onto the floor.

"You're quite welcome, Luna," he grins while patting her shoulder. "I have a feeling that this is going to be rather fun."

"Me too," Luna stares into the facets of the Chaos Emerald. "Me too..."


	4. Chapter 4

_**Chapter Four**_

Robotnik cackles as he sees the Sonic Team, they've brought a few extra allies. He's watching them through his surveillance cameras; Sonic's in the lead with Knuckles on his right, and Tails on his left driving the Cyclone. Behind them is that rebellious robot E-123 Omega, and that traitorous bat, Rouge. Amy Rose is trailing behind them.

"Where is he?" Luna is standing next to Eggman, hands on her hips, and a frown on her face. "You said that Shadow would come with them."

"I doubt he's far," Eggman grins. "Most likely he's trying to sneak into the base some other way. Perhaps he's just trying to find my Chaos Emerald, and he's using them as a distraction, I wouldn't put it past him."

Luna sighs, she agrees with the doctor, but she's still frustrated with her brother. Eggman stands from his chair, "Come on, let's have some fun with them!" Luna follows him as he hops into his personal hovercraft, and floats into the air.

Luna's POV

Ivo, and I had set up a plan in case Shadow didn't show at first. Ivo had calculated that he would certainly be there, but so far there hasn't been any sign of him. It's been a few days since I've come to Ivo for help, and like he'd suggested I've used this time to train. I hope that things go well this time.

I'm sitting on the edge of Ivo's personal carrier, Ai has used a hologram to hide my presence. It's a pretty simple setup that he has assembled here, about four-dozen Egg-Pawns, all armed with stunning lasers, separating us from a large door on the other side of the room.

A gigantic explosion rocks the room as the others blow the door in. they're still arranged how they were on the cameras, but Amy has joined them in the front now, a large hammer in her hands.

"Was that really necessary?" Ivo has one elbow on the side of his hovercraft, and his head in the same hand. He looks rather bored.

"Where is she, you gigantic jerk?!" Amy glares at him, but it looks oddly cute to me.

"You mean me?" Ai drops the hologram around me, and I wave to them. Sonic, and Amy raise their eyebrows in shock. I giggle, and smile at them.

"So Shadow was right," the bat, the one Ivo told me was Rouge, says. "She must have been with Eggman the entire time, it's a trap!"

"Oh no," I say, sliding off the hovercraft, and bouncing off of Egg-Pawns until I'm standing in front of them. "It's just a joke he helped me put together. We got you good, didn't we? Had you going for a minute, huh?"

"Luna," Amy looks thoroughly confused now. "Why are you with him? We thought you were kidnapped!"

I shake my head, "No, I called him to come get me after a certain _someone_ knocked me into the sewers."

"But I still don't understand why you would call him in the first place," Sonic is scratching his head.

I shrug, "You always stand by family, right?"

All their eyes widen at this, glancing between me, and Ivo.

"You have got to be joking," Knuckles balls his fists at his sides, cracking his knuckles.

"No, no, the joke's over now," I wave a hand dismissively. "It's too bad Shadow wasn't here, I wish I could've seen him." I frown, and sigh.

"Well wish granted," I spin to see Shadow right behind me. His eyes are hard, and I take a surprised step back. He leaps at me, and I drop to the floor, rolling out of the way.

Shadow spins, facing me, "I see you've learned how to fight, but you don't stand a chance against the Ultimate Life-Form."

I give him a cocky smile, "Won't know until we try, now will we?"

"Shadow," Amy puts a hand on his shoulder. "Maybe you don't have to do this."

Shadow shrugs her hand off, "Look at her, all of you. She's wearing Hover-Shoes, Inhibitor-Rings, and I saw her use Chaos Control back in Station Square, twice. I want answers, even if I have to beat them out of her."

"I don't know if you can do that, Shadow," Sonic grins at him. "I mean, I've never seen you hit on a girl in any sort of way."

"Shut up, Faker!" Shadow takes a running stance, and I take a defensive stance. Sure I could just tell him, but I doubt that he's ready to listen to me just yet. Dr. Robotnik's right, I've gotta earn his respect the only way I can. I think back to all the hours of rough training I spent fighting Shadow Androids, and their simulated Chaos Powers. I hope this will help me last long enough to-

Shadow disappears, warping behind me with a round-house kick. I spin, blocking the blow with an arm, and lashing out with a kick of my own. Shadow spins out of the way, and smashes an elbow into my jaw. Momentarily dazed, I fail to block his next attack. He kicks me hard in the gut, knocking the wind out of me, and sending me flying halfway across the room.

As I get shakily to my hands and knees, he slowly walks towards me, "Do you want more, or are you ready to give up?"

I can't give up, I just can't. If I give up now, then there's nothing left for me. I move like I'm trying to stand up, and I see Shadow's foot heading for my face. I warp behind him, and kick him hard in the back. He stumbles forward one step, and then warps right over me, bringing a fist down at my head.

I warp a few yards away, and he follows after a microsecond, bringing an uppercut to my face, which I block. We continue like this for a few minutes, using Chaos Control in unison. I keep trying to put distance between us, and he's hot on my heels with another attack. The others in the room are watching in wonder, I doubt they've seen something like this for a long time, if ever.

Finally I get sick of being on the defensive. A microsecond after warping, I warp again behind where I expect Shadow to appear. He appears in a flash of blue light in front of me, swinging a fist through the air where I used to be. I have a moment's window, and I take it. I slam both feet into my brother, and activate my Hover-Shoes.

"Ah!" Shadow yells out in surprise as the thrusters in my shoes burn the skin on his back, and send him flying. I land on my feet with a flip, and watch him carefully. He's on his feet, but it seems that his speed is only slightly slower than before. He's still glaring at me, but is it my imagination, or has something changed in his eyes.

"I admit, I never thought of using the shoes like that, clever," I feel my cheeks blush slightly at this small word of praise, but I can't let my guard down.

"Looks like I'll have to quit playing with you," He says, pulling out a green Chaos Emerald.

"We haven't even started yet," Is my reply as I pull out my red one. Out of the corners of my eyes I see Sonic take a few steps back with his friends, and Robotnik calls his Robots back a good distance.

In my moment of distraction, Shadow vanishes, appearing over me with a glowing fist. No time to warp, I roll to the side as a bolt of gold light pierces the ground where I once stood. He drops onto the other side of the hole, his fist glowing again. I put the Emerald away so that I have both hands available. It's time to test a maneuver I made up during my training. Both my hands glow gold as we call out our Chaos Powers.

"Chaos Spear!"

"Chaos Shield!"

As Shadow shoots the golden light at me again, I brace both arms in front of me in an "X" shape. Two spears of golden light appear in front of me in an "X" pattern, and Shadow's spear collides with them. With a sound reminiscent of thunder, the both of us are blasted backwards by the conflicting Chaos Energies.

Both of us pull of the the same maneuver, using our Hover-Shoes to slow us as much as possible, but we both wind up crashing into opposite walls of the massive room. We both drop to our knees, and then Shadow stands, while the most I can muster is kneeling.

"You're clever, I'll give you that," Shadow is breathing harder, at least I'm making him struggle for this. "But you can't win, Luna. I have more battle experience than you ever will, so even if you come at me with my own weapons, I'll win every time."

"You make it sound like we're finished," I grin while standing on shaky feet. "Besides, you started it."

Shadow has an odd expression on his face, like he's not sure weather to grin, or scowl. "And now I'm going to finish this," he calmly walks towards me. "Anything you'd like to say first?"

I start walking towards him, a grin on my lips, "Yeah, but I don't think you're quite ready to hear it yet."

We meet in the center of the room, only standing a few feet apart. Shadow's eyes are hard, but he's not glaring at me anymore. He knows that he has me beat.

It's too bad I don't know that, must've missed the memo.

I reach up to one wrist, and unclasp an Inhibitor-Ring. Shadow's eyes widen, and he dashes over to me. He grabs my wrist, reclasping the ring.

"Don't," he says. "In your condition you'll just wind up destroying yourself."

I look down at the floor, "I know... but it's the only way to..."

He looks at me, confused, "Only way to what, win? You know that's impossible."

I shake my head, and then grin up at him mischievously. Catching him off guard, I grab him by his wrists, and flip him onto the ground, landing on top of him.

"It's the only way to get you close," I say with a giggle. "Pinned ya!"

"Ugh, get off me!" I oblige, and Shadow tackles me. We go rolling until I'm on top of him again.

"Pinned ya again," I give him a smug smile. I get up, and back up fast, laughing the whole way. Suddenly my laughs turn to coughs, and I drop to one knee. Shadow stands over me, his gaze unflinching.

"W-what's happening?" I'm scared now, my chest hurts, and so does my head. Without batting an eye, Shadow raises a hand like he's going to Backhand me. There's a sudden pain on the back of my neck, and everything goes dark.

Normal POV

Luna wakes up some time later, her eyes fluttering open. She groggily takes in her surroundings...

"Am I... dead?" Heaven is so much pinker than she expected.

"Negative Luna," Ai's voice come's from her wrist. "You were merely knocked unconscious for several hours."

"Chao!" Trouble crawls up the bedspread, and hugs her around the neck.

She pets his head, sitting up, "Hey there, little guy. You didn't really think I was going to leave you, did you?"

"Chaaaooo..." Trouble moans into her neck making her giggle. She gaps, and grips her chest when it hurts her. She looks down, and her eyes go wide.

"What happened to my clothes?" She casts her eyes around the room, but not spying them anywhere. What she does see makes her raise her eyebrows. Almost everything is pink, Saves for the white stripes in the wallpaper, and several spots of blue. Luna blinks that these spots are actually pictures of a familiar blue hedgehog.

"Your clothing was removed in order for your injuries to be treated." Luna sees that her entire chest was wrapped in constricting bandages. Moving a hand to her aching head, she feels her cranium similarly wrapped.

"So I lost," she looks down at the pink blanket sadly, and Trouble wraps his limbs around her right arm. "How bad was it?"

"You suffered three broken ribs, and a minor concussion as the worst of your injuries. It is my theory that your use of the ability "Chaos Shield" is not as practical as originally thought."

"And what about Shadow?" She clinches her fists.

"He has suffered first degree burns, and a bruised ego."

"No, I mean where is he now?" Ai is silent for a moment.

"He was here barely an hour ago, and he informed Miss Amy Rose that he would be staying in case you woke up. Apparently he perceives you as a threat of sorts."

Luna blinks, and then she smiles. That means she succeeded, right? If he sees her as a threat of any kind, then he respects her abilities if nothing else.

A sudden thought crosses her mind, "Ai, if you're my care-taker, then how come I got so beat up?"

"Because of several reasons, Luna. Firstly, you wanted Shadow to respect you, and now he does, I think. Throughout your battle I was constantly calculating its progress, and would have stepped in should the battle have taken a lethal turn. Secondly, I do not trust Ivo Robotnik would have been the best influence for you. I allowed Shadow to knock you out because they were going to carry you away from that base. It was a difficult decision, but I believe my judgment was sound. I apologize for allowing you to be hurt so."

Luna sighs, "It's fine, I mean look at us now. We're alive, I got to connect with some of my family, though I would call a brawl "Bonding" exactly, and..."

Luna glances around, "Ai, what happened to the Chaos Emerald?"

"Shadow took it for safe-keeping. Remember, while he may "respect" you, he does not trust you."

"Baby steps, Ai," she grins as she picks up Trouble, holding him close. "Baby steps."

A door to her right opens, and Luna turns her head to see Amy walk in.

"Oh, you're awake," Amy is watching her cautiously.

Luna smiles at Amy, "Hi again, thanks for taking care of me."

"Oh, that's okay." Amy smiles at her now, and walks in. She sits on the bed, watching as Trouble plays with Luna's quills. "He's a cutie."

Luna giggles, "His name's Trouble, he's a rescue."

Amy gasps, "Oh no, the poor little guy. Well at least he has a good home now, right?"

Luna glances at the bandages on her chest, "I'm not so sure about the _good_ home part, but at least he's seeing the real world." She tickles the little black Chao, and he squirms away from her, giggling.

Amy scoots closer to Luna, "Hey, if you don't mind me asking... What were you doing with Eggman?"

"Who?" Luna tilts her head in confusion.

"Um... Dr. Robotnik?"

"Oh, you mean Ivo? I told you guys already, we're family."

"But I still don't get that part," Amy picks up Trouble, and the little Chao squirms in her grip, reaching for Luna.

Luna sighs, taking Trouble from her, "Well, I wanted to tell Shadow first, but I'm not so sure if I should anymore."

"What is it, c'mon! You can tell me!" Amy bounces on the bed a little, and Luna grins. Amy Rose is such a simple person, but that makes her easily lovable.

"Alright, but you have to swear to keep it a secret until I tell Shadow, okay?"

Amy offers Luna her hand, little finger extended, "Pinky Swear!"

Luna wraps her little finger around Amy"s, and they shake on it. "Okay," Luna leans close to Amy's ear, and whispers, "I'm his sister."

Amy leans back, her mouth in an open "O"

"O...M...G!"

"Remember, you promised!" Luna narrows her eyes at the pink hedgehog, and points a finger at her.

"Chao!" Trouble sits in Luna's lap, and mimics her as best he can. The girls look down at him, and then burst out laughing. Luna winces again, and has to stop.

Amy draws a cross on her chest, "Cross my heart, I won't tell a soul. But then why did you attack him?"

"Well if you think about it, I didn't." Luna shrugs, "At Twinkle Park he knocked me on my butt, and put a gun to my head, so I figured I needed to change tactics. Ivo is the only other living relative of Gerald Robotnik, so I went looking for him. He told me to get Shadow's respect I needed to show him that I'm not a plushy... whatever, you understand though, right?"

Amy nods, "Yeah, and that actually sounds about right. Shadow is a die-hard warrior, so he doesn't hold many people as "close" at all. The only people I can think of off the top of my head is Rouge, E-123 Omega, and..." Eventually Amy shrugs, "Well, that's all I got."

Luna frowns, "Sounds pretty lonely to me."

"He likes it that way," Amy makes a face like she doesn't like that idea. "He considers Sonic his rival, or something. The two of them are always fighting, trying to figure out which one of them is the better hedgehog."

Amy lets out a huff, "Men, why do they have to act so stupid?" Amy blushes as her eyes fall onto a picture of Sonic on her nightstand, "But they're not all bad."

"So you like Sonic, huh?" Luna raises her eyebrows as Amy lets out a deep sigh.

"More than my own life. I'm sure he feels the same, but he's just too shy to admit it."

Luna has an incredulous grin on her face, but she says nothing. Her stomach growls, and Trouble presses his head to her belly curiously.

"Aw, that's just too cute!" Amy squeals. "Any idea how old he is?"

"Well, they said that he's been at the nursery for about two years-" Her stomach growls again, and Amy's ears perk up.

"Oh! Just wait a minute, I'll bring you something to eat." Amy dashes from the room, returning a few minutes later with a few sandwiches.

They talk some more while they eat, and Luna finds that she really likes Amy. It's nice to have her around, and for the first time she can remember, Luna realizes that she's happy.


	5. Chapter 5

_**Chapter Five**_

Luna stands outside, Trouble on her shoulder. She's using a hose to water some of Amy's flower garden. All the while she's thinking to herself.

_Well, I guess I got what I wanted right? I found my family, but... _She sighs to herself. She has thought of Amy as simple on several occasions, but what about her? She'd left the ARK because Ai urged her to. She sought out Shadow because... She's still not entirely sure why. She'd fought Shadow because Ivo urged her to, and in hindsight it probably wasn't the best idea in the world.

She looks down at herself, her normal clothes have been replaced with some lounging clothes. A pair of black Sweat-Pants , and a baggy sweater. It was still hard to move in some ways after a few days since the fight. Others had dropped by, a Tails, Rouge, and a rabbit named Cream. Her Chao, Cheese, had become fast friends with Trouble, so they got along too. Still, she hadn't told anyone aside from Amy about her being Shadow's sister.

"Hey there!"

Luna jumps a little, and turns to find Sonic leaning on the fence, a cocky grin on his face. Luna turns off the water, and walks over to him, smiling.

"Hey, Sonic, what's up?"

"Meh, nothing much, I was just in the neighborhood, ant thought I'd check on Xena, the Warrior Princess."

Realizing that he's talking about her, she blushes a little, "I'm fine, thanks for asking. What about you, anything new?"

"Nah, nothing. Then again Eggman's the only person stupid enough to take me on more than once."

Luna frowns, "Hey, watch it Sonic. I admit, he's not the best guy in the universe, but he's still my family."

Sonic raises his palms to her, "Sorry, my bad."

"Just a fair warning," Luna grins sweetly at him. "One more crack about any of my family, and I'll call Amy out here."

Sonic frowns, "Now that's just plain dirty, Luna. I thought you were better than that."

"Just looking out for my own," she says with a laugh, it doesn't hurt to do that anymore. "Speaking of, any word from Shadow?"

Sonic shakes his head, "Nope, but I do know he's still in the area. I think he's waiting for you to fully recover before coming back."

Luna looks downcast for a moment, but then she perks up, "Well if you happen to run into him, please tell him that he can stop by anytime. I don't think he needs more of an advantage of his two Chaos Emeralds to my none, alright?"

Sonic chuckles, "Alright, I'll let the Fake know."

"AMY!"

"Oh shoot!" In a flash of blue Sonic disappears.

Amy pokes her head out the back door, "What is it, Luna, are you okay?"

"I'm fine," She tells her, walking back to the house. "But Sonic was here just two seconds ago, and I thought you might want to see him. He took off though."

Amy sighs, "That sounds just like him." They go inside, and Amy turns on some video games.

A few hours after Sonic left, they hear the doorbell ring.

"Well that was fast," Amy raises her eyebrows, and pauses the game. "I would've thought the pizza would take at least fifteen minutes to cook."

Luna laughs as Amy answers the door. Luna looks over her shoulder after a few minutes pass in silence. There she sees Shadow looking down at her, and Amy off to the side.

"Oh hey, Shadow," Luna stands, and comes around the couch. "Good to see you again!"

"How are you feeling," it's hard for her to pick out any emotion in his deep voice.

"Oh I'm just peachy-keen," Luna replies, and Trouble flies off her head to hover in front of Shadow's face.

"Chaaaooo!" he growls, narrowing his eyes at Shadow. Shadow raises an eyebrow at the small creature, and Luna pulls him out of the air.

"It's okay Trouble," Luna scratches him between his little wings, making him burble in pleasure. "He's not going to hurt mommy Luna anymore."

Shadow frowns at Luna, and turns, "It's nice to know that you're on the mend. I'll be leaving now."

"Oh, let me come with you!" Luna passes Trouble to Amy as she dashes off to change into her old clothes, and Hover-Shoes. When she gets to the front door, she sees Shadow heading towards the front gate. Giving Amy a last wave, she turns on her Hover-Shoes, and skates after Shadow.

They flash down the streets of Station Square, and along the beach. Shadow surprises her when he actually goes out over the water, using air from his shoes to surf a wave. After a few tries, Luna manages to mimic him. With a glance over his shoulder, Shadow launches himself into the air, piercing the wave they were riding. He lands, spinning, on the beach, and watches Luna attempt to imitate him. A few seconds later she washes up on the shore.

Shadow sighs as she sputters out the sea-water, and sand.

"I can't believe this," he says. "One moment you can use Chaos Powers with some adequacy, and the next you're flat on you're face."

Spitting out a piece of kelp, Luna retorts, "Well, I wasn't injured then, now was I?"

"The strong don't make excuses, they make results," with that he starts walking away from her. "You're the one who invited yourself to come along, so don't blame me if you can't keep up."

Luna stands, and dusts herself off, "Is that any way to treat family?"

Shadow stops in his tracks, and after a minute he turns to face Luna, "I hope you intend to clarify that statement."

Luna licks her lips, "Ai, I could use some help here."

With the help of some holograms, and some elaboration at some places, Luna tells Shadow of her origin. He says nothing, only listening with a blank expression. When she is finished an uncomfortable silence hangs in the air.

Finally Shadow flings a hand out, and her red Chaos Emerald lands at her feet. As she bends to pick it up, Shadow turns, and disappears in a flash of green light.

Luna is stunned, "...Shadow?"

Amy's POV

I glance at Luna from the kitchen; the poor girl has hardly spoken since she went for a run with Shadow. Most days she just sat on the couch with Trouble in her lap. Most of those days she forgets to even turn on the TV.

I sigh quietly to myself, just what happened out there? Whatever it was, Luna has been like this for weeks now. I thought that maybe she would work it out herself at first, but now I'm not so sure.

I walk over, and sit next to her, "Luna the Hedgehog, you've just won the Olympic gold in Moping, tell me, what's next for you?"

Luna's mouth turns up at the corners, and she turns her head to me, "Sorry, Amy, I guess I'm just not feeling good."

I scoot a little closer to her, "Do you want to talk about it?"

She looks thoughtful for a second, and then nods with a sad smile, "My brother is a jerk, but maybe you already knew that."

I bob my head from side to side, "Yeah, I it crossed my mind at some point."

My humor is lost on her, "While we were out on the beach I told him about me, and he… he…"

My eyes go wide, "He didn't tell you to get lost did he?" It's all too easy to imagine that coming from Shadow.

Luna shakes her head, "He didn't say _anything,_ Amy. He just gave back my Chaos Emerald, and left without a word."

I blink, somehow I can see Shadow doing that, but it's not something one who knew him would have expected.

"What does that mean, does he hate me?" Trouble flies out of her lap to hover in front of her with sad eyes. "I only have two family members on earth, and both of them are frickin' jerks!"

For the barest hint of a second a ripple of red energy covers Luna's skin. My already wide eyes are threatening to pop out of their sockets, so I act without thinking.

I grab her arm, and haul her to her feet, "Okay, missy, you're coming with me, this is an emergency!"

Luna looks at me with curious, yet cautious eyes, "Where are we going?"

"I'm taking you shopping!"

Luna's eyebrows fly up as I drag her out the door.

We meet out in front of the mall with Cream, and Rouge.

"I'm not so sure about this..." Luna glances around doubtfully.

Rouge puts her hands on her hips, "Look, honey, I didn't come out here for the scenery, okay? If you don't like this, then I'm afraid you out of luck."

"Rouge," Cream frowns at her. "You don't have to be so mean, we're just here to have fun."

"Well, let's go!" I dash into the mall, the others close behind me. Luna is staring at the place with wide eyes. I can't say that I'm surprised, from what she's told me about herself I'd bet she never even know that a place like this existed.

"So where to first?" Cream looks around at us. Cheese, and Trouble are flying above us, playing Tag.

"Well I think we need to do something about Luna's clothes," Rouge looks her up and down with a grin. "From what Amy tells us, what you're wearing now is all that you own."

"Well... yeah, but I don't see the problem-"

"Sweety, listen," Rouge interrupts her with a wave of her hand. "While you might like what you got, if you don't use a little variety then you're just gonna blend."

"You say that like it's a bad thing," Luna mutters, she's more shy that I had expected.

"Don't be like that," Cream says in her squeaky voice. "You might actually find something you like! Just give it a try, please?"

Luna looks at Cream's pleading face, and melts. She gives an awkward smile, and nods.

Rouge sighs, "Jeez kid, you'd think we were going to cut off your fingers, or something."

Luna, Cream, and I wince, frowning at Rouge. We walk into a JC Penny's, and head for the girl's section.

"Any ideas," I call over my shoulder, taking a few dresses down from a rack.

"It'll have to be something that goes with those rings on her wrists," Rouge calls back from the shoes Isle. "Shadow said those were Inhibitor-Rings, so she can't take those off except for in emergencies."

"Well that's going to be kinda hard," Cream has Luna by the hand, and is looking over some T-Shirts, and jeans. "I mean, you usually style the jewelry after the clothes, not the other way around."

"Hey," I call over to her. "Easy with the "J" word around Rouge, you'll give her ideas."

"Oh that's so funny I forgot how to laugh," Rouge rolls her eyes, and walks over to the others. "She does strike me as a more casual dresser, but she should have at least two sets of nice clothing for special occasions." Rouge holds up a pair of high-heels, "I think these are about your size, Luna."

"But what if I need my Hover-Shoes?"

Rouge waves off her protest, "You'll have your Chaos Emerald on you, right? Then you can just teleport. There's no excuse for not dressing for an occasion."

Over the next hour or so Luna is shuffled in, and out of a changing room with various outfits. She seems a little awkward at first, but after the third, or fourth outfit she starts to enjoy herself. After picking out a few sets of clothes she likes, the rest of us try out a few things.

At about noon we walk out with bags hanging from our arms.

"I can honestly say I'm enjoying myself," Luna was a wide smile.

"Told you so," Rouge smiles as she nudges Luna with an elbow. The two of them get into a shoving match, laughing.

"I'm feeling a little hungry," Cream looks at me. "Anybody feeling like getting a bite to eat?"

"Sounds good to me, what about you guys?" I look over at Luna, and Rouge.

They nod, and we head for the Food Court. On the way there we hear a familiar voice calling out to us.

"Hey girls!"

We turn, and we see Tails running up to us, waving.

"Hey Tails, what's up?" I smile at him. Coming up behind him is Knuckles, and Sonic, both of which nod a greeting.

"We were on our way to the movies," Sonic grins at us, and I blush.

"Oh, sounds great, can we come?" I clasp my bag-laden hands together, and Sonic frowns.

"Well... we were just going to go ourselves, y'know?" Sonic scratches a spot behind his ear. I feel my heart sink, and my face fall.

"You know," Luna looks around at everyone. "I've never been to a movie before, are they fun?"

Knuckles shrugs, "Depends on the movie really, but we heard from Espio that this one is pretty good."

"What is it?" Rouge cocks her head, and grins.

"The Hobbit," Tails says. "I read the book a long while back, so when I heard there was a last minute discount of the tickets, I called Knuckles. Sonic was visiting Angel Island at the time, so I asked him to come too."

"It sounds so nice," Luna looks down at her feet. "Are you sure it wouldn't be a bother if we came along?" I furrow my eyebrows, something is... off.

The boys look at each other, and then Knuckles shrugs. Sonic checks his watch, and says, "Well if any of us are gonna see it, we better hurry, it starts in ten minutes."

And with that we all dash for the theater, sonic leading the way of course. Luna looks over her shoulder at me, and gives me a conspiratorial grin with a wink.

My eyes go widen with understanding, and I mouth "Thank You" to her.

Normal POV

A few hours later we're coming out of the theater.

"So what did you guys think?" Tails is walking backwards, smiling at them all.

"I thought that Radagast was funny," Cream giggles.

"Are you kidding, he was obviously high," Rouge raises an eyebrow. "Did you hear what that guy, the wizard dressed in white, said about him popping 'shrooms?"

"Any guy that travels on a sled pulled by _rabbits, _and keeps a _live bird's nest_ under his _hat _has something wrong with him, that's for sure." Knuckles is grinning as he says this.

"I hope there's more," Luna is smiling as they make their way down to the main floor. "It doesn't seem like that was meant to be the end of the story."

"Nope," Sonic rides the railing on the escalator while lying down. "Espio says they made this the first of three movies for The Hobbit."

"I hope we can see the others," Amy says. "That was fun, especially in the beginning with the dwarves raiding Bilbo's pantry."

"Speaking of," Cream says. "We never did get lunch. Would you like to join us, boys? My treat for taking us to the movies."

"Oh please do!" Luna looks at them, giving Amy a quick glance.

The boys share a few looks, and then Tails nods. They go to the park, and get lunch from a food stand, and sit on a grassy hillside. Knuckles got some bacon cheddar fries, Tails and Cream got two hotdogs a piece, Rouge got a huge pretzel, and Amy got a hamburger. Sonic, of course, got a chili-dog, and Luna got one too when she heard Sonic rarely ate anything else. She's figured they must be good if that was true.

She was not disappointed, "Mmm! This is good!"

"That's what I've been telling people, but no one listens to me," Sonic stares at some human family flying kites a good distance away.

Luna watches too before swallowing, and saying to Amy, "Thanks for this, Amy, I needed this."

"No problem," Amy smiles back at her. "Keep up a positive attitude, and I'm sure things will work out in the end."

Luna shrugs, "I don't know, Shadow seems like he's a stubborn guy."

"Huh," Sonic looks over at her. "What about Captain Emo?"

Amy elbows him in the gut, and he looks at her, confused. Luna rolls her eyes, "I think I'll let that slide just this once, he did act kinda Emo I guess."

"Why would you let yourself get so worked up about it though, that's the only part I don't get," Rouge cocked a head at her.

Luna shares a glance with Amy, and then takes a breath, "He's my brother."

Rouge's jaw drops, and her eyes go wide. Tails, and Cream stop chewing before sharing a shocked glance. Knuckles coughs, choking on his fries a little bit. Only Sonic, and Amy are unfazed.

"Huh," Sonic lays back on the ground, arms behind his head. "Well I guess that explains a lot."

"But *cough* but how?" Knuckles is staring at her now with wide eyes.

"Long story short," Luna says, breaking of a piece of her lunch of Trouble. "I was created by cloning Shadow about a year after he was made, but I was only awakened a few weeks ago. That's when I first ran into Amy, and Sonic."

"You're a clone?" Tails lowers his eyebrows.

"I am my own person, thank you very much." She says this pompously with her nose in the air, making everyone laugh. A few minutes later everyone goes their separate ways. Luna follows Amy home, and they put away their new clothes. They then tidy up the house a bit, which takes a few hours. As the sun begins to set, the doorbell rings.

"Who on earth...?" Amy opens the door while Luna finishes putting away the last of the cleaning supplies. "Oh, hey Rouge, what's up."

The white bat shrugs, "I just thought I'd stop by, is it a bad time right now."

"No, please, come in." Amy steps to the side as Rouge walks inside. She smells the fresh scent of soap, and grins.

"The the only living kin to the Ultimate Life-Form is a housemaid? I think I know more than one person who would throw a fit at that."

"Very funny, Rouge," Luna walks into the living-room, rolling her eyes, and taking a pink bandana off her head. Rouge snickers a bit before sitting on the couch.

"It took me a bit to fully work out what you dropped on us back in the park, and I thought I should tell you something."

Luna gives Rouge a confused look before sitting next to her. Amy scampers into the kitchen to start on dinner.

"So, what is it?" Luna pulls Trouble into her lap, and he starts playing with the end of one of her quills.

"Well first, I wanna know exactly what happened a few weeks back. All Ames told us was that you went into a funk after going for a run with Shadow."

They're quiet for a minute, and then Luna Sighs.

"Okay, here goes. I went with Shadow to the beach, and after he complained about my lack of skill, I told him about me being his sister. He didn't say anything, he just tossed a Chaos Emerald at my feet, and left."

Rouge looks up at the ceiling, "Yeah that sounds like something he'd do, he doesn't take certain news well I'd guess."

"I don't even know if he believed me," Luna looks away from Rouge, and tickles Trouble's noes with the end of another one of her quills. The Chao sneezes, and she giggles.

"Well, I think it was more of a thing of whether or not he _wanted_ to believe it,"Rouge says, scratching the back of her head.

Luna looks up at Rouge curiously, "I don't understand."

Rouge sighs, "How should I explain this? Okay, Shadow's closest friend was Maria, you know all about her. After he lost both the old Doctor, and Maria, he took on a view like it was just him vs the world. He's gotten so used to being alone that he kinda convinced himself that he likes it better that way, but I know better. I've worked with him long enough to know him better than most, you see.

"Anyhow, after almost a decade of having come to terms with his loss, you show up proving what he knew to be wrong. It's like losing a family member, and years later they come back from the dead."

"So... Basicly what you're saying is that after he found peace with himself, I came along and rocked the boat?"

"Pretty much," Rouge nods. "My guess is that he's out there in the middle of some sort of internal battle with himself. He can't decide if he wants to believe you, or just continue the way he has been for so long. Personally I think that he may be hurting now, but in the long run it'll be good for him."

Luna takes a minute to let that soak in, "So what should I do now?'

"Wait," Rouge offers her a kind smile. "You just need to wait. I've never seen anyone make Shadow do what he didn't want to, so we can't do anything to convince him one way or the other. He'll show up again in his own sweet time, and then we'll know where this stands."

Luna grins, "You make it sound like we're planning war here."

"Where Shadow is concerned, anything might as well be considered war."

The two girls laugh, and Amy pokes her head out of the kitchen to look at them. She smiles to herself, she'd known it was the right thing to take Luna out today.

"Hey Rouge, are you staying for dinner?"

"That depends, whatcha making?"

"Oh, just some Fajitas, and the like."

Rouge ended up staying the night instead of going back to her pad, and Luna was happy about it. In only the few weeks that she's spent on earth she has made so many friends. Laying in bed later that night, she thinks hard about the future.

If Shadow does decide to accept her, then she has no idea of what to expect. She wants to think that he approves of her on some level because of the Chaos Emerald he'd left her with.

On the other hand if he doesn't, then at least she has the others. Amy is letting her live with her now, and she likes it here. Sonic is funny, and seems like the kind of guy who can lift any spirit if you're down. Knuckles is a warrior, that she doesn't doubt, but he's kind enough to stick with his friends. Tails, and Amy are odd in Luna's opinion, because she somehow feels like a big sister when she's around them. Luna thinks that Rouge is kind of self-centered from the way she acts, but she makes Luna feel like she has a big sister.

Luna turns onto her side, and snuggles deeper into her pillow. Trouble Snuggles closer to her from under the blanket, babbling, and making her giggle.

"No matter what happens," Luna says as her eyes slide shut in slumber. "I'm going to be okay."


	6. Chapter 6

_**Chapter Six**_

Luna's POV

I walk out of the shower, drying my quills with a pink towel. After getting dressed I walk downstairs to join Amy for breakfast.

Amy looks up from her toast, and eggs, "Good Morning, Luna! Huh, how come you're not wearing the clothes you bought yesterday?"

I shrug, "Just hanging out here today, right? No biggie."

Amy gives her a crooked from before going back to her meal. After doing the dishes the phone rings, I pick it up, "Rose residence."

"Hey Luna, just the person I was hoping to talk to!"

"Oh hey, Sonic." Amy looks up at me with wide eyes. "So what's up?"

"Well, I'm kinda bored, so I was wondering if you wanted to race, or something?"

I think about it, and then grin, "Okay, when, and where?"

"Meet me at the beach in about five minutes?"

"Make it fifteen, we'll see you there!" I hang up, and turn to Amy. "Sonic wants to race, he'll be at the beach in fifteen minutes."

Amy's jaw drops, "How come he calls you, and not me?"

I look at the ceiling in thought, "Maybe because you're not a runner?"

Amy sighs, "Oh well, let's go!"

Amy grabs her bike from the garage, and the two of us take off down the street. pace myself so Amy can keep up. By the time we get there Amy is breathing heavily. "Okay, maybe you have a point." Amy locks he bike to a fence, and walks onto the sand with me. There's not a cloud in the sky, and the sound of crashing waves seems so peaceful.

"Were we really planning on just staying inside today?" My eyes the horizon with a smile. "I sure hope not."

"Well later we can just come here with our bathing-suits, how's that sound?" Amy smiles as Trouble sits on top of her head.

"Sounds like that might be worth sticking around for." We turn to see Sonic standing behind us. He grins at us, and Amy pounces on him.

"Good morning, Sonic!" Amy squeezes him in a signature Death-Hug.

"Good... Amy... Can't... Breathe!" He gasps as she releases him.

I roll her eyes, "Thanks a lot, Amy, now after I sweep the beach with him he's gonna complain that he was injured beforehand."

"Oh you wish," Sonic starts a warm-up routine. "After I'm done with you, you'll have eaten so much of my dust that you turn brown!"

"Why don't you put your foot in you mouth now, and tell me how it tastes?" I start loosening up my muscles while Amy draws a starting-line in the sand with a stick. Sonic, and I take up running stances on one side of the line.

"So where're you racing to?" Amy takes a few steps back, and crosses her arms.

"First one to get to Angel Island, tag the Master Emerald, and get back here wins! 1, 2, 3, GO!" Sonic takes off in a flash of blue. I'm after him a half second later shouting, "Hold on, I don't know where that is!"

Sonic looks at me from over his shoulder, and grins, "Just keep up, and that won't be a problem!"

"Jerk!" we both double our speeds, me staying a few yards behind Sonic. I can easily pass him at this speed, but for at least the first half of the race, I have to let him take the lead.

We dash into Station Square Train Center, and jump onto the tracks. I keep pace with Sonic as he maneuvers the maze of tunnels. To anyone who happened to be there at the time, they would have seen a flash of blue light closely followed by a streak of red light.

Barely two minutes later we shoot out of a tunnel, and jump off the tracks. We drop about twenty meters, and I take a half second to look around as I fall. Wherever we are now, it looks so tropical. I see a huge waterfall in front of me, maybe fifty meters away, and a really old train station off to my left. As soon as we hit the ground they dash into a tunnel in a mountain that's beside the train station. Inside is a part of the cave with a huge updraft, which Sonic jumps into without hesitation. I follow, hot on his heels. The updraft deposits us on the edge of another cave, which Sonic bolts down. Soon he, and I are in open air again, and I gasp at what I see.

Connected to the mountain by a plank bride is a floating Island, as in _floating in midair!_ Sonic makes for the bridge, but now I shoot past him, eyes set of a source of green light on a raised dais in the middle of the island.

Something explodes from beneath me, and I flip to avoid it. When I regain my footing, Sonic screeches to a halt beside me.

"What the- Knuckles?!" I stare surprised at the red warrior.

He looks a little surprised himself, "What the hell are you two doing? I saw you going for the Master Emerald."

"We're in the middle of a race," Sonic explains, hopping from one foot to the other. "We gotta tag the Master emerald, and be the first to get back to Emerald Coast."

Knuckles glares at us, Sonic more than me, "You know I can't let anyone, _anyone, _near the Master Emerald, Sonic. You know it's my sacred duty to guard it."

This is news to me, "Huh? Sonic, why didn't you tell me?!"

He shrugs, still hopping back and forth, "It's no fun to run a race if there aren't any obstacles."

I fix him with a glare, and he actually falters for a moment in his attempt to keep him muscles warm. "You," I say pointing a finger at him. "Are an egotistical, cheating, lying JERK!"

Knuckles raises his eyebrows slightly, but doesn't relax his defensive stance. I turn to him with a look of regret, "I'm so sorry, Knuckles. Really, I had no idea!"

Knuckles frowns, "Well I believe you,but Sonic knows better." He glares at the hedgehog in question.

Sonic stops hopping, and glances between the two of us, "Huh, what about the race?"

"Deal with it," I growl at him, and cross my arms. Sonic kicks a rock off of the island, complaining about how unfair this is. While Sonic has his back turned, Knuckles puts his hands on his hips, grinning. He takes a step to his right, and jerks his head over his left shoulder with a wink at me.

I'm confused for a second, and then I raise my eyebrows in understanding. Knuckles gives me a small nod, and turns his attention completely to Sonic. I lick my lips in satisfaction, Sonic _so _deserves this.

I dash past Knuckles, and propel myself onto the dais with a sudden trust from my shoes. I brush the Master Emerald with my palm before Leaping back to the bridge. Sonic glances between Knuckles, and I in outrage, "Hey, no fair!"

He bolts for the Master Emerald, but Knuckles gets in his way. I take this opportunity to get a head-start. As I approach the mouth of the cave, I hear Sonic's feet hitting the bridge.

_**Knuckle's POV**_

I watch them go, A red blur with a blue blur in hot pursuit. I had only been able to keep Sonic from the Master Emerald for three seconds, but it had given Luna a good head-start. I take a minute to thank my lucky stars that Sonic isn't a jewel thief.

I pull out my cell-phone, and hit a speed-dial number. It rings twice, "Hello?"

"They just left, thanks for calling in."

"No problem Knuckles!" Amy makes a kissing sound on her side of the line, and I make an incredulous face before disconnecting.

_**Luna's POV**_

I dash out of the tunnel by the train station, and skate up one of the walls. When I hit the tracks Sonic comes dashing out of the tunnel, taking the stairs in about two seconds. I pour on my full speed once I hit the tunnel, and it echoes with the sound of a Sonic Boom. I don't know the exact way back to Station Square, so I bring some Chaos Spear energy into my hand so I can follow the scortch-marks my shoes left on my first trip.

This time the trip is little over a minute before I shoot out into Station Square Train Station. I think I give a few bystanders Whiplash as I shoot past them. I see the beach, the starting-line, and the next moment I'm there, sending up a wave of sand as I hit the breaks on the other side.

Amy wraps me in a hug, and Sonic appears two seconds later. He does _not _look happy.

"That was totally bogus," He puts his fists on his hips as he taps his foot, frowning.

"I said that you would just have to deal with it," I grin at him, and he glares at me.

"Knuckles let you have a head-start, and tried to stop me," he accuses.

I shrug, "A race isn't any fun if there aren't any obstacles."

His eyes go wide, "You were planning this with him from the beginning, weren't you?"

I roll my eyes, "How could I? You didn't tell us where we were going until the starting count."

"Actually I called him," Amy waves her little pink cell-phone. Sonic, and I both look at her in surprise. "I still love you more than life Sonic, but that was a cheap trick."

Sonic throws up his hands, "I can't believe this!"

"Hey, no worries," I lightly punch him on the shoulder. "We'll have a rematch, but this time we'll make sure it's fair, and authorized." I give him a serious look.

"Okay, the first part I can do, but the second is just no fun." His grin creeps back onto his face. "It's just too much fun messing with Knucklehead."

I roll my eyes, making a mental note to talk to Amy later about getting Knuckle's permission. Then I remember something.

"So Amy, still up for a beach day?" It's summer now, and the beach is starting to attract some of the locals.

She perks up, "Yeah, I asked Cream if she wanted to join us, so she's stopping by our place to pick up the beach stuff."

I blink, _our place, huh?_

Sonic stretches, "Well, you know I don't do water, but I don't see anything wrong with a little tanning." He dashes off, and appears a minute later with a green towel, and a parasol. Cram shows up a few minutes later with her mom, Vanilla. I look up as a shadow passes over me, and Rouge lands in front of me.

Cream runs over, wearing a multicolored one-piece that reminds me of sprinkles. "I called Rouge, and invited her to come," Cream says. "I hope that was okay."

"Sure," Amy hugs her friend. "The more the merrier!"

"In that case I'll ring the guys up," Sonic pulls out a blue cell-phone, and starts texting. "Tails will want to come if he's not busy in the lab. I'm not sure about Knucklehead, but I'll text him anyways. This heat has got to be killing him, it's not like there's any shelter on Angel Island."

Amy, and I get out bathing-suits from the car, and head into a nearby hotel to change. I spot Emilia, and wave to her, getting a wave back in return. A few minutes later I come out of the bathroom with Amy. She's dressed in a frilly, pink bikini that hides her lack of cleavage. Me, I'm dressed in a black Bikini with stripes of gold. I pad over to Emilia, and she smiles at me.

"Hello Luna, I see that this time you're _ready_ to get wet." We smile at the memory of our first meeting.

"Yup, care to join us?"

She's still smiling, but she raises her eyebrows, "I'm on the clock Luna, I can't just duck out like that."

"Okay," I give her a small shrug. "Just thought it was fair to offer."

Emilia nods, "I appreciate it, thank you. How's Trouble, by the way? I notice he's not with you."

"He's down at the beach with my new friends. Speaking of which, I'd better go. See you later Emilia!" I wave a good-bye as I run to catch up with Amy. As we walk out of the hotel we see Tails, and Knuckles coming out of the train station. Knuckles has on a pair of sunglasses, and a white towel over his shoulders. Tails has a towel of his own, and a pair of swimming goggles on his head.

"Hey guys," I wave to them, and they wave back. They walk over to us, and we start walking to the beach.

"So?" Knuckles is looking back and forth between Amy, and I.

"I won," I tell him, smiling.

Knuckles starts chuckling, "Man, I wish I could have seen the look on his face."

"Well, since it was a stupid race we decided to plan a rematch, this time with your permission."

Knuckles stops laughing, "I feel bad about letting anyone close enough to touch the emerald, so I'm gonna have to say no."

"They won't have to touch the emerald," Amy looks around me at Knuckles. "They can just run some wide laps around it, right?"

Knuckles looks up at the sky in thought, "... Yeah, I can live with that. Not much running space on Angel Island, though."

We make it to the beach, and find everyone else already having fun. Rouge has apparently worn her swimsuit under her usual bodysuit. It's a deep purple bikini with a pair of conspicuously placed bows on the top. Vanilla is putting sunscreen on Cream, and the two Chao are making Sand-Castles. Sonic sits up from his towel, and looks over his shades at us.

"Huh, well how about that? All I had to say to get Knuckles here was to say that Rouge is here, huh?"

"Oh," Rouge says flirtatiously, turning to Knuckles. "Is that right?"

"Can it, you two," Knuckles growls at them. "If Rouge is here then that means she's not after the Master Emerald. No one else has any interest in it."

"No one besides you, you mean," Rouge rolls her eyes. "Look, I gave up on that rock when I gave you those pieces back on the ARK. Just relax, will ya?"

"Not likely," Knuckles tosses his towel to Sonic, who uses it as a pillow as he lies back down on his back.

"Y'know, Knuckles, I'm surprised with you." Sonic stretches, and continues, "I never thought that you'd actually let either of us near enough to touch the Master Emerald, or that you'd take sides in stacking the race."

"Just get over it already," I grind my teeth in frustration. "The strong don't make excuses, they make results!"

Suddenly everyone stops moving, and looks at me. I look back in confusion, "What?"

"That," Tails says, rubbing the back of his head. "Sounded a lot like something Shadow would say. Kinda took us by surprise, y'know?"

I blink in surprise, and remember that Shadow _had_ said that to me. I let the moment pass, and I grin, "Well he is my jerk brother, there's gotta be some resemblance, right?"

We all laugh at that, and carry on. Vanilla takes Tails's towel, and he heads out to the water. Knuckles, Cream, and Rouge follow after him. Amy, and I take a minute to put on some sunscreen, and then we follow the others into the surf.

Hours later the sun begins to drift towards the horizon. I check the time on Ai, and see that it's almost four-thirty. We decide to call it a day, and pack up.

Sonic is the first to leave, vanishing in his typical blue blur. Tails, and Knuckles take the train back to the Mystic Ruins. Rouge stays behind with us as Cream leaves with her mom.

"Well, this has been nice, though there is something that's worrying me." She wraps her towel around herself.

"What's that?" Amy cocks her head in confusion.

"Eggman," Rouge replies.

"Huh, but he's been so quiet ever since we got Luna back from him."

"Yeah, that's what's bothering me." Rouge turns to me, "Did he ever give you a reason for helping you fight Shadow?"

I shrug, "He said it was a practical joke on his part."

Rouge frowns, "That doesn't sound like him at all. He always, _always,_ has another motive for everything he does."

I frown, "But what could he have gained? Everyone's fine, and to top it all off he lost a Chaos Emerald while helping me."

"Exactly," Rouge puts her hands on her his. "I doubt he would throw away something as powerful as a Chaos Emerald on a practical joke."

We're quiet, it makes sense when she puts it that way.

"So what do we do?" Amy glances back and forth between Rouge, and I.

"Well, we know he's planning something, but we have no idea what," Rouge says. "We can either wait for him to make the first move, or we can try to figure it out for ourselves. That would mean heading into his base, and going through his files."

"Why don't we worry about this tomorrow," I suggest. "We'll call in the others then, and discuss it in the morning."

Rouge nods, and then looks at the ground in thought. With a grin she puts her bodysuit over her shoulder, and flies off.

Amy, and I towel off, and change back into our usual clothes. Trouble hangs onto my quills while Amy, and I head back to our house.

On the way, the road in front of us is suddenly blown to pieces. We skid to a stop, and turn around at the whir of machinery.

"Ho ho ho! Well, this is a nice family reunion, isn't it?"

"Eggman!" Amy, and I watch as my human relative hovers down to us in a fearsome-looking machine. His personal hovercraft is in a large red machine that's hard to describe. On either side of the cockpit is a spinning disk edged with spikes. Spike segments swish back and forth behind him, almost serpent-like.

"That's the Egg-Viper," Amy gasps. "Sonic described it once to us. He said it was the toughest bot he can remember facing Eggman in."

"It's nice to know that my inventions have gained some infamy among your little group," Eggman leans out of his cockpit to grin at them. "But luckily for you I'm not here to hurt you. The Egg-Viper is just a little insurance, in case you resist."

"What do you want," Amy growls, getting off her bike, and summoning her hammer. Quickly, I step between them.

"Knock it off, both of you!" I look up at Ivo, "You don't have to threaten them all the time, Ivo."

"It's the only thing they'll understand from me," he replies, leaning back into the cockpit. "But that's neither here, nor there at the moment. I came to get my Chaos Emerald back, Luna, now hand it over!"

I blink at him, I can feel the thrum of the Emerald's energy in my pocket. "What, why? You said you were giving it to me."

"I don't recall ever saying that it was yours to keep, I was just letting you borrow it. But once they carried you off there was no way they'd let me retrieve the emerald, so just give it back already!"

I make a small frown, he had said that he wasn't going to hurt anyone, given that we give him a stone of unlimited power. I can't help but wonder what Shadow would think.

Then it hits me, something that had been nagging at me for a while. After learning who I am, why did he give me back my emerald? It's because he trusts me with it, trusts me to keep it safe.

"I'm sorry," I tell Ivo. "But I just can't do that."

"Foolish girl, I mean no harm, I only want an opportunity to study the emeralds, just imagine what good they can do for mankind!"

I take a deep breath, "I'm sorry, but can you please just go find another one? I can't give this one up, not now, not ever."

Ivo growls, and starts messing with the controls in his pod. The Egg-Viper looms over us, "I'll give you one last chance, girl. Surrender that Chaos Emerald, or I'll take it from you by force, the hard way!"

I glance over my shoulder at Amy, who shakes her head slightly. I narrow my eyes, and look right into Ivo's, "No."

The tip of the Egg-Viper's head begins to glow, and I turn to Amy, grabbing her arm.

"Chaos Control!"

As the ground under us explodes, we appear in front of our house.

"Wait here," I say, letting Amy go. I spin, and teleport back to where Ivo is.

"Huh, what are you doing here," He looks around. "Oh I see, you took little Amy Rose to safety, and came back to face me on your own, is that it?"

I nod, "This is a little too dangerous for her, so it was the best choice."

"For her perhaps, but not for you. My scanners show that you still have the Chaos Emerald on your person."

I grin, "I never go anywhere without it."

The Doctor brings the Egg-Viper to eye-level with me, "Before we begin, I want to know why you refuse to simply give up the Chaos Emerald, and escape possible demise. You seem like a sensible girl, but do you honestly think I won't fight you just because by some stretch of the imagination we're related?"

I shake my head, "No, just know that I have my own reasons."

Ivo takes that in for a few seconds, "... I see, but this still doesn't change anything." The Egg-Viper rises back into the air. "I am sorry about this Luna, As far as pests go, I actually happen to like you the most."

_Doesn't change anything though,_ I think to myself, and prepare for a fight.

Then Ivo dives at me, a heavy metal shield over his cockpit. I roll to the side as the spikes on the wheels gouge into the asphalt. The tail of the Egg-Viper grazes my arm as I jump over it. I gasp, and spin on my toes. Ivo has gained altitude, apparently he wants to rely on his guns for this.

"Chaos Spear!" I throw the golden bolt of light at him, but they appear to only do minimal damage, only a few shallow dents.

Suddenly the Cockpit opens, but I don't shoot at him. I'm just trying to get him running, not kill him. The wheels detach from the sides of the Egg-Viper's head front, and fly at me like a pair of spinning tops. I roll under one, narrowly missing the bottom point, and roll to the side as I dodge the other. The wheels fly back up to the Egg-Viper, and as they do I eye the spots where they've torn up the street.

I'm still on a residential street, and if we keep this up, Ivo might accidentally hurt a bystander. I decide to relocate the fight, and dash down the road. Ivo turns his weapon to follow me, peppering the street with lasers as he tries to catch me. I use Chaos Control a few times to jump out of range of his weapons, and I'm sure he's onto what I'm trying to do by now. I can't tell if he just doesn't care, or if he can't figure out a way to stop me. Personally I don't care about anything but putting some distance between those guns, and innocent people.

I lead him out of the Station Square city limits, and then warp on top of his machine. He rolls, trying to throw me of. He almost succeeds, but I manage to grab onto one of the spikes on the Egg-Viper's tail. Suddenly the metal under me gets hot, and with a flash of light I'm sent flying. I hit the ground hard, and roll a few feet. Shakily I get to my feet, my left shoulder stinging. I look down, and gasp, the fur has been burned away, and my skin is red with bits of black where the burns are more severe.

I feel tears working their way to my eyes, and I blink them away, Ivo must have gotten me with a laser. As I watch the Egg-Viper turning to attack again, I try to think of a plan. Chaos Spear is useless, It has a cannon in the front, and it shoots lasers from its tail. No wonder Sonic had trouble with this thing.

The Egg-Viper comes to a halt some distance above, and in front of me. The cockpit opens again, and Ivo appears.

"It's over, Luna, you don't have to die. You can still help me, we can help save the world!"

I grit my teeth, and look at the ground. What would Shadow say if I gave up the Chaos Emerald, which he'd trusted me with enough to turn his back on me after we'd fought, just to save my own hide.

I gingerly press a hand to my burnt shoulder, and close my eyes, "I can't, Ivo, I just can't."

I hear Ivo growl from the Egg-Viper's cockpit, and look up to see the wheels detach themselves from the Egg-Viper once more. Tears flow freely now as I fall to my knees, helpless without the energy to save myself.

_I'm sorry Shadow, _I say inside my head, and close my eyes as the wheels fly straight for me.

"Yahoo!"

I'm suddenly jerked to my side, and I feel the wind as the wheels slice the air on my other side. I open my eyes, and see Sonic with one arm wrapped around my middle, watching Ivo. He has his usual grin, but his eyes are hard.

"Erg, Sonic!" Ivo spits his name, and hovers the Egg-Viper higher into the air.

"Y'know," Sonic says as he sets me down, and walk in Ivo's direction. "Only big, fat bullies pick on girls."

"This doesn't concern you, rodent, so just stay out of my way!" Ivo slashes a hand through the air, and the wheels on the Egg-Viper return to his sides.

"Actually it does," Sonic starts his warm-up routine. "Because a guy like me doesn't just stand around when his friends are getting trashed."

"Luna!"

I look over my shoulder to see Amy, Tails, Knuckles, and Rouge flying towards me. Amy is holding onto Tails's hands as his tails let them fly like a helicopter. Knuckles lands between me, and the fight, Rouge lands right beside him. Tails, and Amy land behind me, and I note that Amy brought a first-aid kit.

"How did you guys find me?" I look around at them, still not quite over my shock to see them.

"Amy called us when you left her at her house," Tails explains. "She brought us to where Eggman had attacked you two, and we followed the battle signs like a breadcrumb trail."

Amy kneels next to me, and opens her kit. "I started studying for medical school a while back," She says. "I know basic first-aid, but not much else. I'll have to wrap the wound, and get you to a hospital as soon as we can."

Meanwhile Ivo is so furious that I can almost see smoke coming out of the cockpit. Finally he shouts, "This isn't the end of this!" He turns the Egg-Viper skyward, and flies away.

"Coward," Knuckles spits, and turns to Amy. "How is she?"

"It doesn't look life-threatening, but I'd feel a lot better if she actually saw someone with a medical degree."

Sonic kneels next to me, "You got your Chaos Emerald?"

I nod, and pull it out of my pocket. Sonic reaches for it, and I press it to my chest.

Sonic raises his eyebrows, but then lowers them, and smiles. "I'm not going to take it," he says. "I promise, I'm just going to use it to get us to a hospital."

I look into his eyes, there's no deceit there. Slowly, I hold out the emerald, and Sonic lays a hand on top of it.

"Chaos Control!"

Maybe thirty minutes later we're all sitting in a patient's room in Station Square General Hospital. The doctor had complimented Amy on the wrap, and looked it over himself. He'd applied an ointment, and rewrapped it with fresh bandages. He'd also told me that I should take activity easy for the next week or so,and not to get my shoulder wet, just to avoid infection.

I'm sitting on a bed, my friends standing around me, and Trouble cooing in my lap. Amy had gone home to pick him up after we arrived at the hospital.

"That was pretty gutsy," Knuckles is leaning on a wall, arms crossed. He grins at me, "I gotta admit, it was pretty stupid, but brave of you."

"Gee, thanks," I roll my eyes, and Rouge smiles from her perch in the window.

"I dunno, Knucklehead, putting her life on the line for a jewel doesn't sound to stupid, especially if that jewel is a Chaos Emerald."

"Don't call me "Knucklehead" Bat Girl," Knuckles frowns, narrowing his eyes at her.

"Now play nice, you two," Sonic from his chair on my right. He's eating a Chili-Dog, and has brought one for me too.

I giggle, and watch Trouble play with the Chaos Emerald in my lap. At the moment he's trying to see how long he can balance it on his head. My laugh shakes him, and it falls off, making him whine.

Amy is quietly boiling on my left, "I still can't believe Eggman would do this to his own family... Okay, scratch that, he'd shoot his own mother if it meant he could take over the world, so yeah, I can believe it. But still, it makes me so angry!"

I'm the one in the bandages, but Amy has enough anger for the both of us. Looking around, I realize just how lucky I am to have such great friends.

"Evil beware Amy, and her mighty hammer," I quip, and we all laugh.

_**Okay, from this point on I'm going to be telling the story from Luna's Point Of Veiw, unless of course I say otherwise in the story. I'm actually enjoying myself as I write this now, and I'm wondering if I should turn this Lark into somthing special, like a part of a series or somthing. I'll let you guys decide, okay? Just let me know what you think.**_


	7. Chapter 7

_**Chapter Seven**_

I'm learning how to knit with Vanilla when the doorbell rings. We're at Cream's house today, Amy and I had thought we could bring Trouble over for a play-date with Cheese.

Amy gets up, and answers the door. I don't hear anything, but a few seconds later she steps outside. Through the door I hear her talking to someone, and that talking escalates into yelling a few minutes later. Curious, Vanilla looks out of the living-room window, and gasps, "Oh my!"

I can't stand it any longer, I go to the door, and look out through the peephole. I see two figures, one is bright pink, obviously Amy, and the other...

My eyes go wide, and I wrench the door open. Amy turns, a shocked look on her face, to look at me. I'm looking past her, face blank, to look at Shadow.

Amy glance between us, and then she steps around me to go inside. I step outside, closing the door behind me.

"Hey, big brother," I give him a small smile. "Long time, no see."

Shadow's eyes are locked on my bandaged shoulder, and he says, "Rouge called me, she said Robotnik made an attempt on your life to get the Chaos Emerald."

I nod, "Yeah, didn't see that coming."

He looks me in the eyes, "She said that you seemed to be quite attached to the emerald, refusing to even let Sonic take it from you. Why?"

I gulp, he's pretty straight-forward. "Well, you left it with me because you trusted me with it, right?"

Shadow closes his eyes, "Idiot."

My own eyes widen with shock. I open my mouth, but Shadow is still talking, "I left it with you because I don't need two Chaos Emeralds, and I'd rather see them in the hands of someone who can use them properly."

He opens his eyes, and fixes me with a hard stare, "It looks like I was wrong, so give me the Chaos Emerald." He holds out a hand, and waits.

I'm frozen in place, staring at his hand. After all I went through, after how I suffered, this is the outcome?

Shadow frowns, "Don't even try to pretend that you don't have it, girl, I can sense it on you. Just give it to me, and I'll make sure it stays safe."

I stare at his hand a moment longer, and then glare into his eyes, "Go to hell."

His eyebrows flicker upwards in surprise, and then he fixes me with a glare of his own. "You do realize that so long as you have it, Robotnik will keep coming back for it, right? It's obvious you can't protect it without the Faker, and his friends to help you." His eyes flick to my bandaged shoulder before returning to my eyes.

"Oh, and I suppose you can," I ball my fists at my sides.

"Maybe your watch forgot to mention this, but I am the Ultimate Life-Form. With each emerald I get, I become stronger. Dealing with the Doctor will be the easiest thing in the world with two Chaos Emeralds."

"So you're going to leave me defenseless, just like last time?" I take a step towards him, and grit my teeth. "I might know how to use Chaos Powers because of my DNA, but you've got the experience to know how to use them best. Now listen good, _big brother, _because this is my last word on this argument. Either teach me how to use my abilities, or turn around right now! The only way you're getting this emerald is off my cold carcass!"

Shadow, and I glare at each other for a few minutes, and then Shadow turns. He looks at me from over his shoulder, and says, "You're going to regret you said that."

He disappears in a flash of green light, and I stand there for a minute before turning back to the house.

A few weeks pass, and there's no sign of Shadow. During this time my shoulder heals completely, and I start some training of my own creation. In the mornings before breakfast, I set out to skate a few laps around Station Square. When I start to feel winded, I use Chaos Control to reappear in front of Amy's house for breakfast. The others agree to help me, which I'm grateful for. Sonic gives me some pointers for going faster than ever before, and I pay him back with regular races. Knuckles, and I agree to some sparring lessons where I try to get around him to the Master Emerald. I'm not allowed to use Chaos Control, of course, and I'm pretty sure Knuckles appreciates me helping him stay on his toes. We have it set up so that I can make a break for the Master Emerald at any time without warning, so it's kinda like training for him too.

Rouge introduces me to a game called Skeet. It's a game where clay disks are shot into the air, and people try to shoot them out of the air with guns. In this case, however, I use the opportunity to practice with Chaos Spear. I hadn't realized until I first tried the game how bad my aim had been. It's still not perfect, but I think that I'm improving.

Amy looks out for me back home, plotting with the others for an occasional break every now and then. She always makes sure there's a warm bed, and a hot meal waiting for me at home. One day we're eating dinner, and I decide to speak up.

"Ames, you're an angel, you know that right?"

Amy blushes, "Oh, knock it off, this is like training for me too, you know?"

I raise a curious eyebrow, and she continues with a deeper blush, "This is actually a lot like how I see me taking care of Sonic someday, when he finally becomes mine."

I snort, but Amy doesn't notice, too caught up in her fantasy. I choke back laughter as I try to focus on my dinner. Afterwards I help Amy with the dishes, and curl up with Trouble in bed.

I'm quiet as I slip out of the house the next morning. It's just a little after sunrise as I set off on my usual lapping session. A about the fourth lap the ground in front of me explodes, and I'm sent flying. I land on my feet, eyes scanning for an attacker, but I'm knocked flat on my face my a sudden force from behind.

I'm pressed into the ground, unable to break a surprisingly strong grip.

"Pathetic."

I freeze at the familiar deep voice. Shadow releases me, and I quickly flip onto my back. He's standing over me, arms crossed.

"Well," I retort. "You are the Ultimate Life-Form, and you really expect me to be able to beat you?"

"Don't give yourself so much credit," Shadow scowls. "I never thought you could beat me, but I had expected more of a fight."

I get to my feet, and brush the dirt off of myself, "What are you doing here, I thought I told you to get lost."

"No one tells me anything," Shadow growls. "And after I gave it some thought, I decided that you're right. You have so much power, and no idea how to use it. It's like you're a bird with no idea how to fly."

Shadow lets out a sigh, "I didn't have the luxury of a teacher, but now you do. I'll give you one last chance to choose; give me the emerald, or take on my training. Either way, once you choose there's no going back. If you do try to back out... then I'll kill you where you stand."

I just grin, "I already told you, you'll get the emerald when I'm dead. So c'mon, big brother, lets get started."

Shadow nods, "Fine, meet me at Emerald Coast in one hour. Leave your watch, and any means of communication behind. Bring only your Chaos Emerald, and the clothes on your back."

With that, he turns, and disappears in a flash of green light. Smiling broadly, I use Chaos Control to appear in Amy's kitchen. She jumps, startled by my sudden appearance indoors.

She notes my expression, "Luna, what's up?"

"It's Shadow," I tell her, taking her hands. "He showed up on my morning route, and told me he's gonna train me!"

Amy's eyes go wide, and I see a mixture of emotions in them. Surprise, happiness, and... Concern?

"Wow, that's great Luna!" She perks up, "Why don't you have some breakfast, and then we'll call the others?"

I shake my head, "He wants me to meet him at Emerald Coast in an hour, so I can only stop for breakfast. You'll tell the others for me, right?"

Amy blinks, and then nods, "Okay then!"

After breakfast I walk out the door with Amy waving to me saying, "Good luck!"

I nod to her, and skate off. I love the feeling of the wind in my quills even more today. I finally get to spend some time with Shadow! He may seem cold, but I'm sure that he's a nice guy. After all, the Sonic Team trusts him, so he can't be that bad, right?

Memories of my fight with him, and our few conversations together flash through my mind.

_Let's not put the cart before the horse, _I think to myself, and keep skating.

About five minutes later I make it to Emerald Coast. I'd checked a clock, and saw that I'm about fifteen minutes early. I smile as I walk onto the beach, and see Shadow watching the waves a few yards away.

"You're early," is all he says.

I shrug, and start walking towards him, "I thought that was better than- YIPE!"

With a yelp I leap backwards into a fighting stance as Shadow fries the sand in front of me with a Chaos Spear.

"I said to be here in an hour, no more, no less. While I train you, I expect you to follow my instructions _to the letter._ If I say an hour, then I mean _an hour._ If I say a millisecond, then I mean _a I understood?"_

Everything about Shadow, from the look in his eyes to his body posture, screams "hard". He really means business, and I'm confident that I'm not going to enjoy this one bit.

Not relaxing my stance, I nod.

Shadow, and I walk down Emerald Coast, attracting a few eyes from pedestrians. Suddenly Shadow stops, and turns to me.

"Before we can even think about combat, we first have to work on your basic skills."

He waves a hand behind him, "Somewhere on this beach I have hidden a Chaos Emerald. You, and I are naturally connected to the Chaos Force, a massive pool of energy held in check by the Chaos Emeralds. Through it, we can sense the presence of Chaos Energy if it's in our immediate area. I want to to take a seat, and tell me where the Chaos Emerald is hidden."

I lick my lips; I appreciate Shadow going easy on me for my first lesson, but...

"How do I do that," I sigh, and look at him out of the corner of my eye.

Shadow crosses his arms, "You're already familiar with detecting Chaos Energy, you can feel it in the emerald in your pocket."

"Oh," I close my eyes, and sit down on the beach. He's right, I'd gotten so used to carrying the Chaos Emerald around with me, the hum of its energy just seems so familiar now. A few seconds pass, and I can feel the emerald in my pocket with my mind. It's a start, but I have to find the one Shadow hid. I furrow my eyebrows, and try to concentrate.

After a few minutes, Shadow says, "You may stop now."

I open my eyes, and look up at him. He's not looking at me, wearing his usual frown.

"What am I doing wrong," I ask him.

"I can read the Chaos Energy you've been using for the past few minutes, you're too focused on the emerald in your pocket." He holds out his hand, "Pass it to me, and then try to sense it."

I grin, "Nice try, but I don't doubt that as soon as you have it you'll just take off."

Shadow frowns, and it looks like he's about to reprimand me. Then he stops, and crosses his arms again, "Fine, in that case try to sense the Chaos Emerald that I'm carrying. Remember, The Chaos Emeralds react to one another when they're nearby."

I close my eyes again, and try to focus outwards. _The Chaos Emeralds react to one another when they're near each other, huh?_

I have an idea, I draw on my emerald, using it like I'm going to use Chaos Energy. Suddenly two points of light shine from behind my eyelids, and my eyes shoot open. As suddenly as I had them, the lights disappear.

Shadow blinks, "You've made your first step, now try again."

I nod, and close my eyes. I channel a little energy from my emerald, and then the lights reappear. They flicker for a moment, and I almost lose them, but I regain control. One light is green, and I can feel it coming from where I know Shadow is standing. The other...

I open my eyes, a frown on my face. I get to my knees, and dig in the sand directly under me. I feel my finger scrape something hard, and I brush away the sand. A blue Chaos Emerald blinks up at me.

I look up at Shadow, "Was that supposed to funny?"

"No," he says simply. "I thought that for a first time it would be easier if the emerald was relatively close."

He puts out a hand, and the emerald slowly floats into it. Then he says, "As you become more familiar with Chaos Energy, you'll be able to expand your range of detection. For now we'll use a few basic exercises."

I nod, feeling a little more confident than before. He passes me the blue gem, and says, "Now take out your other emerald, and channel some energy through both of them."

I eye him suspiciously, but do as he says. Channeling energy through the new emerald feels different for some reason.

I stare at the blue Chaos Emerald for a minute, and then raise an eyebrow at Shadow.

"The blue Chaos Emerald is a fake," he explains. "Without the time to search the globe for a real one, I had Miles make a fake one for me. You'll be able to tell the difference because fake emeralds can't give out as much energy as a real Chaos Emerald. They're good for about seven uses of Chaos Control, or Chaos Spear, and then they turn into dust."

"Wow," I say. "I didn't know it was possible for there to _be_ fake Chaos Emeralds."

"That's what I'm supposed to teach you, isn't it? Now no more dawdling, we have work to do."

Over the next few hours Shadow puts me through a series of exercises. First he has me sit in a beach chair with a blindfold, and earplugs as he walks around me. I'm supposed to keep a finger pointed in his direction as I keep track of his Chaos Emerald. As he paces around me, occasionally changing direction, his circles become wider. I do okay in this one, occasionally losing focus.

Next he has me hand over the fake Chaos Emerald, and take out my earplugs. Still blindfolded, he has me distinguish the fake from the real Emerald as he holds them out to his sides. This one was a bit tougher, but Shadow explains that it's hard to tell a real emerald from a fake when you're not touching it, even then it can be a challenge.

For the last exercise he has me hold the fake Chaos Emerald in my hands, and make it levitate. "The Chaos Emeralds react to the thoughts of their user," he tells me. "Channel Chaos Energy through it, and imagine it floating over your palm." I lick my lips, and give it a try. I see the emerald twitch in my hands, and then lie still. I give it a few more tries, and it begins to bounce maybe a centimeter off of my hand.

By this time the sun is beginning to set.

"Go home," Shadow says. "Be back here at seven 'o clock tomorrow morning. Take the fake emerald with you. I want you to practice as much as you can in these three exercises."

I nod, "Thanks for doing this, Shadow, I mean it."

"Don't thank me now," he says walking off. "Thank me when I'm done with you. You'll hate me, but you'll be grateful."

I give his back an incredulous smile, and shrug. I skate off, heading home for the day.

As I walk in the front door, a pair of hands grab me, and haul me indoors. Amy looks me over with wide eyes, and starts patting me down.

"What the-" I gasp, a blush creeping over my muzzle.

"Where does it hurt? C'mon, I can't help you if you don't tell me!"

"Amy, whoa, stop!" I grab her shoulders, "I'm not injured, I swear I'm fine!"

Amy clasps her hands together, and looks at me with tears in her eyes, "Trying to be so brave. Please give it to me straight, he attacked you the moment you set foot on the beach, didn't he?!"

"Well," I look to the side, and raise a thoughtful eyebrow. That is more or less true, after all. "He did throw one Chaos Spear-"

"That jerk," Amy yells, making me jump. She growls to herself, fire in her eyes, as she heads towards the door. Her hammer appears in her hand, and I grab her around the waste. I have to use my Hover-Shoes to keep her inside as she tries to go turn my brother into Hedgehog Paste. She's surprisingly strong for someone so small.

"Chao!" Trouble flies over, and grabs Amy's ear, helping me to haul her to the couch.

"How could he," She growls to herself, tapping the palm of her hand with her hammer. "You're his sister for crying out loud!"

"Amy, I'm _fine_," I say sternly. I tell her about my day with Shadow, and she seems to calm down as I do. She lets out a sigh as I finish.

"Well it sounds like he went easy on you today, but I can't help but feel like this is a bad idea, Luna."

"Hey," I say sitting next to her. "Chill out, okay? I'll be fine. Hey, maybe after he's done I'll beat him up, and _I'll _be the Ultimate Life-Form."

Amy snorts, and we bump fists, "Girl Power!"

"Chao?" Trouble tilts his little head at us as we dissolve into giggles. Amy had been too nervous to cook anything, so we order some Chinese take-outs. As I go to pick them up, Amy heads to Blockbuster, and rent a few Martial Arts movies.

"So I can beat the tar out of Shadow if he puts you in the hospital," Amy explains. I decide to say nothing. We try to pay attention to "Enter the Dragon", but we both just dissolve into laughter as Trouble tries to mimic Bruce Lee on the coffee-table in front of us.

We put the leftovers in the fridge, and head to bed. It's a new day tomorrow, and I gotta be ready to face it head-on.


	8. Chapter 8

_**Chapter Eight**_

I'm in pain this morning; my ears hurt because of the alarm clock, and my head hurts because Trouble is pulling on my quills. Apparently he wants me to turn it off for him. I sit up, and rub my eyes before hitting the snooze button. I check the time, I've got an hour, and a half before I meet Shadow at Emerald Coast this morning. I walk downstairs after a quick shower, and start breakfast. I've got the pan in my hand before I realize that I have no idea how to start cooking. I've seen Amy do it so often, how hard can it be?

Amy is bolts down the stairs fifteen minutes later to find the kitchen filled with black smoke.

"Ah," she yelps, and dives into the smoke. "Luna, are you in here?"

"I'm over here," I call. I'm at the sink, trying to put out a fire in my frying pan.

"Ah! Turn the water off, quick!" She rushes over, and takes the pan from me. I shut the water off, and she grabs a canister of Salt. She sprinkles the salt on the flames, quickly putting them out.

"I'm so sorry," I say, hands over my mouth.

Amy runs the back of her hand across her forehead, and lets out a sigh of relief. "It's okay Luna, but just for the record; never use water to put out a grease, or oil fire. Smother it with salt, okay? And you never want to put a hot pan under the tap water, you'll burn it."

Amy holds up the pan, and lets out a sad sigh. The non-stick surface on the pan has been burned clean through.

"I'm sorry," I say again.

Amy waves off my words, "It's alright, I just need to throw this one away, and buy another one. But next time you want to make breakfast for yourself, just use the toaster, 'kay?"

We share a laugh, and then I glance at the clock. I still have time before I have to meet Shadow, so I decide to just swing by McDonald's for breakfast. I enjoy my McGriddle out in front of Twinkle Park, eyes on the clock. When it's time to meet Shadow I just use Chaos Control to appear where we were yesterday.

Shadow nods when he sees me, "You learn fast." He turns, and I follow after him. We come to a barren spot in the middle of a sandbar, and Shadow turns to me.

"Your next lesson in using basic Chaos Energy is learning to use it without a Chaos Emerald. Being outlets of the Chaos Force, just like the emeralds, we work under the same principals. Fake Chaos Emeralds only have so much Chaos Energy stored inside them, and that's why they're less powerful than the real ones. We can channel that energy, but only so much at one time. If we begin channeling too much Chaos Energy, our bodies begin to shut down, typically making us tired, or making us pass out. But if our bodies are under too much stress, and we try channeling too much energy the results can be fatal."

"Oh," I say, catching on. "So that's what you meant back at Ivo's base when I tried to take off my rings!"

Shadow nods, "Though you weren't aware of it at the time, your injuries would have killed you if I hadn't stopped you. The Chaos Emeralds are incredibly durable, but if used too greatly they will shut down for a few minutes. They can still give out great amounts of energy before that happens, but for beings like us that energy can be quickly used up."

I nod, "You said I wasn't going to be using one today, though."

"Not just yet, no," he affirms, and takes a step back. "I want you to remove the rings on your wrists for a few minutes. Try to get a sense with your mind of how to find your link to the Chaos Force within you."

I nod, and unclasp my left ring, tossing it to Shadow. As I remove my right ring, I gasp. My fur glows yellow for a moment, and then a shock-wave rolls off of me, sending up a wave of sand. My quills fly up as if in a mighty wind, and I'm lifted off of the sand by a few inches. Shadow shields his eyes from the dust before looking at me with a small grin. The air around me is charged with golden energy, making me look like the center of a yellow flame. The sensation is incredible, like I've got live wires for veins, and it doesn't hurt at all. If anything it feels... invigorating.

"Focus, Luna." Shadow's voice snaps me back to reality. "Turn your senses inwards, find your link to the Chaos Force."

I nod, and close my eyes. I try to sense the energy as it rolls out of me, but it's like trying to find one drop of water in a river. And then I feel a single point in my body, right in my core, where the energy seems to be coming from. I center my attention my attention on that one point, and my breath catches in my throat. It's vast, maybe even larger than the entire universe. I'm aware of it, but I can't quite touch it. I feel like it's everywhere, and it's just gathering in me before passing through me.

I open my eyes, and look at Shadow. He nods, and walks forward with my rings. I reclasp them, and the surge of energy slows. My breath is a little heavy, but I don't feel too worse for wear. I can still feel that point of energy within me, but the rings dampen just how much energy is coming through.

"Now you know," Shadow says, and I look up at him. "You know just what is at our disposal, and what power we use."

"That was incredible," I mutter. "But, it was frightening at the same time."

Shadow nods again, "You can think all you want about this later, but for right now we have more work to do."

He takes a step back, "I hid my Chaos Emerald somewhere in the sand. Without using energy from either your emerald, or the fake, I want you to find it."

I nod, and close my eyes again. I draw on the pinprick of energy within me, and pull its energy through my limbs. Off a few yards to my left I see a green glow from behind my eyelids. I hold a hand out towards it, and draw that energy towards me. I open my eyes, and see the emerald wiggle out of the sand, and slowly drag itself towards me. When it reaches my feet, I bend, and pick it up.

"Found it," I smile, and hand it to him.

He takes it, and puts it away, "Now I want you to practice using that energy inside you to make your gems levitate."

I nod, and take a seat on the beach. I set the fake emerald in front of me, and concentrate on moving my own energy into it. I imagine it floating in front of me, and it hops in the sand a few times before wobbling into the air.

Once it stops wobbling, Shadow has me move it around my head in a circle. It takes a little work, but I eventually start to get the hang of it. Shadow acts like an ass, and occasionally tries to distract me, which works for the most part. Then he actually makes it harder for me by channeling his own energy through the fake, and making it work against me.

By the time the afternoon comes around the emerald doesn't wobble at all anymore. And by sunset I think I've got the hang of it.

"You're adequate enough," Shadow says. "I want you to go home, and this time _practice._ I think tomorrow we may begin combat training."

I hop to my feet, and give him a quick hug, "Thank you shadow!"

He just growls at me before vanishing with Chaos Control. I giggle before using Chaos Control to appear home in a flash of red light. I make the fake emerald float around my head as I walk in, and Amy raises her eyebrows at me.

"Homework," I explain, and Amy nods. Trouble hugs me around the neck, and then I try to amuse myself by making the fake emerald play tag with him. Amy make a stir-fry tonight, and then we head to bed.

The next day I resume training with Shadow. Amy had been thoughtful enough to make me a reheat breakfast of an omelet, and bacon. I play with Trouble, keeping an eye on the clock, before teleporting to the beach to meet with Shadow.

We walk until we come across a bunch of driftwood on the beach. Shadow stops, and points out to sea. I follow his finger, and spot two logs standing vertical in the deep water.

"I want you to use Chaos Spear on one of those," he says, and crosses his arms. I take a second to wonder why he's having me do this, I already know how to use Chaos Spear. But I don't argue with him, instead I make a backhand motion, and send my spear flying into the log on the left. It breaks in half, my attack cutting it right in the middle. I grin, after a few dozen rounds of Skeet my aim is much better now.

Shadow notices my grin, and turns to the other log.

"Chaos Spear!"

His attack lances through the air, and collides with the second post. My jaw drops as the post is reduced to splinters, smoking as they hit the water. The stump that's left is steadily burning.

"Chaos Spear," Shadow explains. "Is an ability that uses a beam of compressed Chaos Energy as a projectile. The more energy you pact into that spear, the greater your range will be, and the more powerful it will be at closer ranges. I want you to practice casting Chaos Spear out over the water, packing as much energy into the spears as you can."

I nod, "How many?"

"Five thousand."

I raise my eyebrows at him, and he glares at me out of the corner of his eye. I swallow, and then nod. I draw as much energy out of my Chaos Emerald as I can, and gather it in my hand.

"Chaos Spear!"

I'm thrown backwards by the force of my blast, and land flat on my back. With a groan, I sit up, and see the large hole in the sand in front of where I used to be. Shadow glares down at me, arms crossed.

"You should have a better understanding of the energies you command now," he growls. "Or maybe you're not ready for combat just yet."

I scowl, and stand up. I try again, but with the same results. Shadow sighs, and helps me up.

"You're simply putting too much energy into your spears," he tells me. "Just fire a little more than you're comfortable controlling. The more you do it, the more you'll be able to pack into your spears."

I sigh, and then nod. I charge my hand, and try again.

"Chaos Spear!"

I slide back in the sand slightly, but my spear lances out, and hits the pole I hit before. I smile in satisfaction as mine now looks a lot like Shadow's"

"4999 more," Shadow says, and takes a seat on a log.

Hours pass, and I'm pretty sure the ocean is either very mad at me for shooting it so much, or laughing at me for all the times Shadow has made me start over. He's just sitting there, watching me, and reading my Chaos Energy. If he feels like one of my spears is "pathetic" - I think that's one of his favorite words – he makes me begin at zero.

It's nearing sunset, and I only have two more left...

"Start over," Shadow rumbles. That's it!

I round on him, if he wants a perfect Chaos Spear, then I'll give him one right up his stubborn ass!

"Chaos Spear!"

I backhand the golden light at him, and he makes no visible movement from his perch a few yards away.

With a sound like thunder, I'm blasted back, and am quickly submerged in the shallow water. I sit up fast, sputtering while I wipe seawater from my eyes. When I can see my brother again, I almost wish I'd stayed underwater. He's at the water's edge with his fists balled at his sides, eyes narrowed in a glare, and his entire body enveloped in red Chaos Energy.

I gulp, and all is quiet, save for the hissing sound of water evaporating near his shoes.

"... Maybe we are related."

Shadow's comment takes me off guard, and for a moment I think I see an amused smirk on his muzzle. I dismiss the thought as the glowing fades from Shadow, it had to just be me wishfully thinking.

"Rouge tells me that you've been practicing Skeet with the Chaos Spear," Shadow says as I step out of the lukewarm water. "I want you to practice with her again, and try using what you've learned today. Our next lesson will be in a few days time, by then I'll have everything prepared."

"Prepared?" I look at him quizzically, but he just vanishes in a burst of green light. I sigh, I should probably just get used to him doing this.

I hear from Shadow maybe three days later, and I'm glad for it. I had used my first day away from him to rest, and remind my friends that I haven't forgotten about them. We'd spent the day at a Laser Tag arena, and much to almost everyone's chagrin I proved to be one of the top players. Rouge, Amy, Cream, and I were on one team while Sonic, Knuckles, Tails, and a purple chameleon named Espio.

It had been my first time meeting the reptile, and he seemed like a nice guy in my opinion. His ability to camouflage into invisibility coupled with his ninja training made him a sneaky player in the arena. We;d talked some after a few rounds, and I learned a few things about him.

He's part of a detective agency, The Chaotix, with two of his friends; Vector, a loud-mouthed crocodile, and Charmy, a childish Bumblebee. To my surprise Vector is the leader of the group, and I can't for the life of me see why Espio would actually go through with some of Vector's requests. Must be something about ninjas, and them needing a master or something, but I kept that thought to myself.

The day after I played Skeet with Rouge, and at about non the Chaotix showed up. Espio, and Vector wanted to make it a competition, so they brought a few guns with them. Charmy tried to play too, but he couldn't shoot a gun without being knocked out of the air. Espio as it turns out is terrible with a gun, so he switched to using ninja stars, and throwing knives.

Rouge surprised me partway through the course by launching three disks at once. Without even thinking I fired three spears, and each one of them connected. I gave Rouge a WTF look from over my shoulder, but she just winked at me. Somehow I got the impression that Shadow had something to do with that.

"Wow," Vector said while rubbing the back of his head. "I don't know if I can top that. Espio maybe, but not me."

"Yeah," Charmy said from the air next to me. "Hey, you two should have a contest to see who can knock the most out of the air at once!"

"Sorry," Rouge said. "But this thing can only shoot three at most."

"Ah, that's not a problem!" Vector picked up a small stack of the clay disks. "Charmy, and I can stand to the side, and just throw 'em!"

"That doesn't sound very safe," I admit, the thought had me a little nervous.

"Ah, I trust you guys," Vector grinned while patting me on the shoulder. With a grin the two of them stood at opposite ends of the field in front of us, and got ready.

Espio went first, "Pull!"

The disks go flying, and I can only count them as they go down. One, two, three, four, five, six! Espio says nothing, he just calmly retrieves his kunai knives.

I licked my lips as they prepared again. When I called pull, I only managed to down five of my disks. I swore that I could see Shadow shaking his head in disappointment.

Now it's the third day, and I'm out in Amy's back yard. Trouble is sitting in a nearby apple tree, and deeply enjoying the fruits in it. I'm making my fake emerald sneak up on him from behind when I hear a deep voice behind me.

"Hello Luna..."

I turn to see Shadow standing behind me. I notice in an offhanded sort of way that he doesn't look angry, just impatient. That's an improvement for him in my book.

"Hey big bro!" I stand while bringing my emerald back to me.

Shadow nods to the fake, "I see you've been practicing, that's good. For the next part of your training small things like that will have to be second nature to you."

I'm actually bouncing on my toes a little, "Well lets quit yakking already, we got work to do, right?"

A small grin flashes across Shadow's muzzle as he nods, "Yes, now go say your goodbyes. We'll be gone for a few days, maybe a few weeks. That will all depend on your progress, of course."

_**Okay, I know the chapter is short, but I just wanted to put what I got out there so you all know I haven't forgotten about ya. I really appreciate all of your support, the great reveiws make the work worth while. :)**_


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